Soldier of Star City
by Raptor2216
Summary: Bucky has just started to settle into his new position on Team Arrow, as Laurel tries to decide what to do with her life. But when Prometheus returns, with new allies in tow, Bucky, Laurel, and the rest of Team Arrow must band together to stop him and save their city. Fourth story of the Worlds Collide series.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, my friends! I have decided to get this story started. I have a general idea of how I want this story to go, but I still want your ideas and input.**

 **This story, obviously, will feature Bucky leading Team Arrow against Prometheus. One crucial difference between this story and the show is that Talia al Ghul is not on Prometheus' side in this. If you are wondering why, it's because I included her in Flash: Dark Dimension, fighting on Barry's side in the final battle. I'll probably still have it be that she trained Prometheus, but she won't be fighting with him. She may yet show up for one or two cameos. I have someone else in mind to take her place. You'll figure out who that is later on.**

 **Let's get this started.**

* * *

Chapter 1- A New Fight

It's late at night in the Glades. It's relatively peaceful. For the Glades, at least. That is, except in one neighborhood.

A man runs at a full sprint down the a dark street, his bag of stolen goods from the store he robbed only minutes ago slung over his shoulder. He doesn't dare look back, but focuses on just running as fast as he can.

He suddenly ducks down an alley, hoping to shake his pursuer. He quickly dives behind a dumpster and hides under it.

The thief tries his absolute hardest to hold his breath, or at least breathe as softly as he possibly can. He can hear footsteps in the alley, gravel grinding under heavy boots.

The footsteps stop for a moment. For a moment, the thief wonders if he's going to get lucky and get away. Suddenly, he hears metal collide with metal. A second later, the dumpster is suddenly shoved away, revealing the Winter Soldier.

The thief tries desperately to get away, but the Winter Soldier leaps forward and tackles him, jabbing a dart into his back, which delivers a sedative strong enough to knock him out in a matter of seconds.

The Winter Soldier ties him to the side of the dumpster, then leaves behind a small red star he uses to mark criminals he's taken down, and disappears into the night.

* * *

(Arrow Lair)

Bucky smiles as he walks into the lair, pulling off his goggles and face mask.

"Well, this was a good night. It was really too easy," Bucky says with a chuckle. In the lair, Laurel and Thea chuckle, while Rene is busy working out on the salmon ladder.

"You've really taken to this well, Bucky. I'm impressed," Thea says.

"Well, I was a master assassin for a long time. I know how to find people that don't want to be found," Bucky says. Thea nods in response.

Bucky looks around, then asks, "Where's John?"

"He got a call from Lyla. Some emergency with their son was all he said about the call. He didn't tell me where," Thea responds. Bucky nods in response.

"Alright. Let's all get out of here. I think we've put in a good night's effort. Let's get some rest," Bucky says.

There are nodding heads all around, and Thea and Rene grab their things and start heading out, while Felicity works to shut down the computers.

Bucky walks up to Laurel, who is just sitting on a random table, staring off into the distance. He stops in front of her and asks, "Hey. What's going on?"

Laurel looks up at Bucky. "Just thinking," she replies.

"What about?" he asks.

"Just not sure how I can build a life here. Everyone thinks that Laurel Lance is dead. Nobody is gonna believe me if I say I'm from another Earth," Laurel explains.

"Well, for the time being, nobody else needs to know you're here. When the time comes, we'll figure that out. For now, just take it one day at a time," Bucky says.

Laurel looks up at him before nodding.

"Come on. Let's get out of here and go grab a bite to eat," Bucky suggests.

Laurel grins slyly. "Big Belly Burger?" she asks.

Bucky chuckles and says, "Sure, why not?" Laurel laughs, then gets up and follows Bucky out of the lair.

As they are walking down the street, heading towards the nearest Big Belly Burger, Bucky turns to Laurel, who is wearing a hoodie to hide her face, and asks, "Are you gonna actually start joining me and the others out on the streets? Or are you gonna just try and forge a normal life for yourself? Either one is fine, but it's not good to just sit around indecisive."

Laurel looks at Bucky. "I don't know. I helped fight off Grodd because I felt like I didn't have a choice. I was one of his targets. I don't know if I could do the vigilante life. But…I don't know. Just a simple life doesn't sound quite right," Laurel replies.

Bucky nods. He's about say something else when he hears something hurtling through the air towards him. He tries to duck out of the way, but something slices across his cheek.

Bucky snaps his head in the direction the object came from, and sees a man heading straight for him, holding a sword, with a bow and quiver on his back and shurikens strapped to the front of his uniform. His uniform is a twisted version of Oliver's suit he's seen from pictures.

Bucky stares at him for just a moment before snapping into action. He rushes right at the masked man, hitting the ground and sliding under the man's sword as he slashes. He pops back up to his feet and throws a punch right at the man's head. The masked man whips around and blocks the punch with fist. He then tries to bring his sword down onto Bucky's head, but Bucky pushes himself forward so that the man can't get a good strike in, while wrapping his arm around the man's head and throwing him several feet away.

The man gets back to his feet, whirling his sword around. Bucky runs at him, but the man dodges aside and slashes at him, managing to open a shallow cut on Bucky's leg. Bucky stumbles and trips.

The masked man stalks towards Bucky, sword held at his side. But, before he can get close, an incredible scream splits the relative quiet, and a shockwave knocks the masked man flying.

Looking up, he sees Laurel now standing protectively over Bucky, fists clenched. "Try and touch him again, and I'll shatter every bone in your body!" she says fiercely.

The masked man stands up, then throws down a flash-bang. Bucky and Laurel cover their eyes to protect them. When they open their eyes again, they see the man has disappeared.

Laurel helps Bucky to his feet, and they stare at the spot where the masked man had been standing. "Well, this complicates things," Bucky says in a low voice.

* * *

 **I'll end there. I know this chapter might not have been the best, but I just wanted to get this started. This story may not be the best, since I'm still planning it out, but just bear with me.**

 **Diggle was not in this because as of this point in the show, Diggle was in military custody. Since he was there to welcome Bucky at the end of _Worlds Collide_ , _Heroes Clash_ , I changed the point where he got captured. Next chapter will not only feature Bucky and Laurel getting briefed on Prometheus, but the whole team learning Diggle has been captured. He'll be freed soon, though. So, don't worry.**

 **This story is going to deviate a fair bit from the rest of the season. So, I hope you're all good with that.**

 **Until next time, please review and stay tuned.**


	2. Chapter 2- Into the Fire

**Alright. I am back with another chapter. This may not be pretty long. I hope you guys will be patient as I work on this story, and will be fine with updates taking a while at times.**

 **Let's get to it. Sorry about the bad chapter title.**

* * *

Chapter 2- Into the Fire

Bucky leans against the table, sighing as he recalls the recent attack.

"So, explain this to us. What exactly happened?" Felicity asks, as she, Curtis, Rene, and Rory all look at him and Laurel. After the attack by the masked man, the pair had retreated to the lair and called the rest of the team to meet them there. Diggle was still missing, though.

Bucky sighs again, then says, "So me and Laurel were heading to grab a bite to eat. On our way there, this man just attacked us out of nowhere. He was wearing some kind of dark uniform, with a hood and a strange mask. He had a bow and arrows, a sword, and had shurikens attached to the front of his uniform."

Dark recognition crosses the faces of the veterans of Team Arrow. "I was afraid of that," Felicity mutters.

"What?" Bucky inquires.

"Bucky, you encountered the man we've been dealing with for a little while now. He calls himself Prometheus. He's turned a former ally of ours against us. He's been determined to destroy Oliver. And…he manipulated Oliver into killing my boyfriend Billy by disguising Billy as Prometheus," Felicity explains.

Bucky and Laurel just stare at her for a moment, taking that in. Then, Bucky asks, "How long has he been active here in Star City?"

"A few months is when he first showed up. He killed a police officer, then killed a crime lord who tried to kill Oliver himself. After that, he started killing random people whose initials matched those of Oliver's initial targets when he first become a vigilante as a message to Oliver. He hasn't done that in a while though," Curtis explains.

Bucky nods with understanding, concerned about Prometheus' vindictiveness. Then, Laurel asks, "When was the last time you encountered him?"

"Only a few weeks ago, when he fought Oliver, and we found out that he had turned our former teammate Evelyn Sharp against us," Curtis responds.

Bucky nods again, then asks, "Do you have any idea who he is?"

Felicity sighs. "Oliver had a theory it was Justin Claybourne, a man he thought he killed during his first months as a vigilante. But, we're not sure about that anymore," she says.

Bucky looks down at his hands, thinking hard about what to do about this situation. Finally, he says, "Well, that's our first step. From now on, I want to focus on trying to figure out who Prometheus is under that mask. Also, I want to figure try and find out where he and this Evelyn Sharp are operating from. I feel she'll probably to be easier to track than Prometheus. We find her, maybe she can lead us to Prometheus."

Bucky looks at Felicity and asks, "Have you found any clues yet as to who he may be? And what led you to suspect he was Justin Claybourne?"

"He had used a former factory of Claybourne's as a temporary base. But, now, we think he may be Claybourne's illegitimate son. We found several documents in that factory, as well as a picture of a baby that we suspect was Claybourne's. According to the dates attached the photo and documents, it would mean the baby in the picture would now be in his early 30s. The perfect age to become Prometheus," Felicity replies.

"Do we have any idea where his mother may be, or who she is? She may be our easiest chance at finding him," Bucky says.

"I've been looking for her. So far, I haven't found anything. But give me some time, and I'll find something," Felicity says with determination.

Suddenly, there's a beeping from the computer station. Felicity hurries over to the computers, her fingers dancing across the keys. For a moment, she stares at the screen. Then, her eyes widen in horror. It takes her a moment before she manages to get out, "John's been captured by the Army!"

Everyone snaps their head towards Felicity, stunned. "What?" Curtis bursts out.

"I've been monitoring Army transmissions to make sure they don't come after John. It seems like they faked a call from his wife, Lyla, to draw him out. They've taken John back to prison!" Felicity says, full of concern.

"What is going on?" Laurel asks, feeling very confused.

"John was in the Army, and he was serving under a general that tried to steal a nuclear warhead and sell it, while framing John for it. John managed to escape with Oliver's help, and has been in hiding here in Star City. Now, General Walker has him again," Felicity explains.

"And there's no way he's gonna let John get out free again. He's not gonna risk John getting the truth about him out. If he can, he's gonna find a way to kill John," Curtis says.

Bucky stands there, thinking for a moment. Then, he says, "Alright. Felicity, I want you to keep monitoring the Army's transmissions. Try and find out where he is being held. And I want to know every transmission involving John. And I'm gonna try and go see if Lance can get me a meeting with the district attorney. See if we can get him to help."

"What do you want me to do?" Laurel asks.

"I need you to stay here. I don't want to leave this place unguarded. And I'm worried about you being seen before we figure out how to introduce you to Star City. So, I want you to just stay here for now," Bucky says. Laurel looks disappointed, but doesn't argue.

"Alright. Let's get to work," Bucky says before he leaves to go ask Quentin to meet with the district attorney to ask for help on John's case.

* * *

(City Hall)

Bucky looks up as the district attorney, a man apparently named Adrian Chase, walks into the conference room in City Hall.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, District Attorney Chase," Bucky says.

"Of course, Mr. Barnes. Though, I must say I'm confused as to the reason for this meeting. Mayor Lance didn't say much," Chase responds as he sits down.

"Well, I've come to you for legal advice. A friend of mine, John Diggle, has been recently arrested wrongfully," Bucky says.

"Yes, Sergeant Diggle. I am aware of his case. Theft of a nuclear weapon. Murder. Escape from prison. Espionage. Quite some serious charges," Chase says.

"He's innocent," Bucky says.

"Why did he escape from prison then?" Chase asks.

"Because he's innocent. His opponent was a general and Sergeant Diggle didn't think the general would allow him a fair trial and the opportunity to tell his story. I want to see him get fair treatment. So I want to ask your help, or at least your advice on how I can help him," Bucky says.

Chase seems to consider it for a moment. Then, he says, "Let me think on it. I may be able to help you try and get him out. Give me a day to think on it, and I'll get back to you."

Bucky nods, then stands and shakes hands with Chase. "Thank you," he says before he leaves the room.

* * *

(Prometheus' hideout)

Prometheus calmly sharpens his sword, the sound of the stone grinding against the metal sounding eerily loud in the otherwise quiet warehouse.

"You went after that new guy?" Prometheus stops and turns his head towards Evelyn.

"The Winter Soldier escaped me. His new friend is stronger than I thought. But it matters not," Prometheus responds.

"What do you mean?" Evelyn demands.

Prometheus stands and sheaths his sword. "I need to go visit someone. You will remain here and wait for my return," he orders.

"You're just gonna leave?" she asks.

Prometheus laughs. "I won't be leaving them without challenge. You'll be sure to keep them occupied in my absence, won't you, my dear?"

Evelyn realizes he's not talking to her. She turns her head to look where Prometheus is looking, and sees a woman standing in the shadows.

"Of course," the woman says before she turns around and walks out of sight.

* * *

 **I'll end there! I hope this was alright.**

 **I'm sure you're wondering who this mystery woman is. Well, she's who I have designated to take Talia al Ghul's place on Prometheus' team. You'll find out who she is soon. Feel free to leave your guesses.**

 **As always, leave a review, and stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3- The Canaries

**Alright. We're back with another chapter.**

 **I'm really glad you all seem to be enjoying this story so far. It'll hopefully get even better as time goes on.**

 **For those who are wondering, the mystery woman from the end of last chapter won't show up again until the next chapter. That's also when you'll get her identity.**

 **Alright. Onto the chapter! We'll finally get to see Laurel in action in this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 3- The Canaries

Laurel leans back in her chair as she downs a glass of vodka. She's been in the lair too long for her liking, but they still haven't figured a good way to introduce her into Star City without arousing suspicion.

Over at the computer station, Felicity is typing away furiously. She's been working to try and find clues to Prometheus' activity. But, for some reason, Prometheus has seemingly gone underground since his attack on Bucky and Laurel.

"Where's Bucky, again?" Laurel suddenly asks.

Felicity sighs inside before replying, "He just said he was on his way to visit John." Laurel just nods in return.

Suddenly, an alarm starts blaring. Felicity quickly slides over to another computer, her fingers dancing across the keys. After a moment, she cries, "Armed robbery at a jewelry store at 5th and State!"

Rory, who is sitting on the other side of the lair, is about to move. But, before he can do anything, Laurel stands up and says, "Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

Felicity looks right at Laurel. "What?" she asks in a low voice.

"I've been cooped up in here for too long. I need some action," Laurel says.

Felicity and Rory look concerned at this. Laurel walks over to a mannequin, where her suit and the mask Cisco made for her for the battle against Grodd are hanging. "Don't worry. I've got this," Laurel says confidently.

* * *

The robbers continue smashing the jewelry cases, grabbing everything they can. "Come on. We need to hurry," their leader says. It doesn't take long before they have grabbed everything of value.

"Alright. Let's get out of here!" the leader shouts, and the other three hurry to follow him out of the jewelry store.

As the four men race towards their get away car, a sudden ear piercing scream splits the ear. The robbers stumble, clutching at their ears in pain.

The leader manages to look up, and sees Laurel, wearing her Black Siren outfit, and her mask. She smiles and says, "Hey, fellas."

The leader raises his pistol, but before he can, Laurel leans forward and unleashes her scream. The shock wave knocks all four men flying, and knocking out two of them.

The leader and one of his cronies rush towards Laurel. The cronie takes a swing at her, but she easily ducks under the blow, grabs him by the arm, then delivers a sharp uppercut that knocks him up into the air and back into a dumpster knocking him out.

The leader is a little smarter. He sends a punch right at her stomach. Laurel dodgers the blow before trying to hit him in the head. He raises his arm to block the blow before kicking at her leg.

Laurel stumbles back a bit. But, she is still very much in the fight. She glares at the man before rushing him. She throws two rapid punches at his chest, which he blocks, but she then makes a roundhouse kick, kicking him in the side of the head and knocking him back. She then leans forward and unleashes her scream again, knocking him flying back.

Laurel slowly stalks towards the leader, who is still conscious, and trying in vain to crawl towards his gun, which had been knocked out of his hand by the first scream. She stalks up to him and says, "Guess you haven't heard. I'm one of the new sheriffs in town. And you don't do stuff like this on my turf." She then steps right up to him and kicks him in the head, knocking him out.

Laurel chuckles to herself a bit before turning and disappearing down the alley she came from.

* * *

Laurel laughs as she finally walks back into the lair, removing her mask as she walks in. "Well. That was a good first time in action since Grodd," she says out loud.

"You got 'em all?" Felicity asks from her station.

"All four of 'em. They're on their way to a cell at the nearest police station," Laurel replies.

"Good work," Felicity says, having to admit that Laurel had done well.

Right then, Bucky walks up. "Hey, Laurel. How did it go out there?" he asks

Laurel grins. "It felt good to be out there. It felt good to have some action again. I need to get out with you. I can't stay in here any longer. Whether the public knows about me or not, I need to get out with you on the streets," she says.

Bucky nods with a grin. "Alright. You got a deal," he says.

Laurel smiles even more broadly. Then, Bucky turns and says, "And, I have some good news. District Attorney Chase gave me a call. He's willing to represent Diggle. He's out of town at the moment on some kind of business trip, but he's gonna meet with Diggle when he gets back."

Felicity finally smiles as she hears that. Before she can ask anything, Bucky asks her, "Any sign of Prometheus?"

Felicity looks frustrated. "No. I haven't found any sign of him or any activity that seems like it could be related to him at all. It seems like he's disappeared."

* * *

(Hub City)

In a hotel in Hub City, one can barely hear screams coming from one of the rooms. In that room, Dinah Drake is torturing one of the henchmen of Sean Sonus.

"Please! Just stop! I'll take you to Sonus! Just stop!" he cries.

"You tortured me. And you're one of the reasons Vinnie is dead. I'm not done making you pay yet," Dinah says fiercely.

Suddenly, without warning, the door is smashed open. Both Dinah and the man look towards the door, and see a hooded and masked man, with multiple different weapons on his person, standing there.

Silence reigns for a few moments before Dinah demands, "Who the h*** are you?"

"You may call me Prometheus. I need to have a word with you. But first, who is this man? An old enemy, perhaps?" Prometheus responds.

"Yes. Now, can you leave me alone?" Dinah asks.

"What are you doing here? Torturing him? Intending to kill him eventually?" Prometheus asks.

"Yes. Now, can you stop bothering me?" Dinah asks.

Prometheus stares at her for a moment. Then, almost faster than she can react, he reaches up and yanks a shuriken off of the front of his uniform before throwing it into the man's throat.

Dinah jumps back a bit in surprise. After a moment, she turns to look at Prometheus and asks harshly, "Why did you do that?"

"To show you you're wasting your time. I know who you really are. Dinah Drake," he says, making Dinah start a little bit.

"You're after Sean Sonus. You've been pursuing him for years. Don't bother with the small fry. He wronged you. He took your partner and lover from you. You need to take everything from him. Like he took everything from you," Prometheus says.

Dinah narrows her eyes. "Who are you?" she asks, more confused.

Prometheus slings his bow up onto his back, before reaching up and sliding his mask down, revealing the face of Adrian Chase. Adrian looks at her and says, "My name is Adrian Chase. And I want to talk to you Dinah."

Dinah crosses her arms. "What about?"

"I know how you feel, Dinah. Wanting to seek revenge on the person who took someone important from you. I know that because I've been there. I feel the same time now. But, I want to see you find your revenge. I'm offering you my help to take Sonus down," Adrian says. After a moment, he extends his hand and asks, "Now, are we in business together?"

Dinah looks at Adrian's hand for a moment. Then, she slowly reaches out and takes it. "Alright, Adrian Chase. What's your plan?"

* * *

 **I'll end there. I hope you liked this chapter.**

 **The idea of having Dinah being on Prometheus' side came from the fact that Laurel is against Prometheus in this, and I need to balance the teams out. Also, work by one of my favorite authors, Stand with Ward and Queen, inspired me to do it, as he did a story featuring the same idea.**

 **Now, I don't plan for Dinah to be a villain forever. She will eventually come back to the light side, so to speak. As for when that is, well, you'll have to wait and see.**

 **Next chapter will feature Prometheus and Dinah taking down Sonus, and Bucky and team encountering the mystery woman working with Prometheus. Until then, please review, and stay tuned! Next chapter will probably be up later today, or tomorrow at the latest.**


	4. Chapter 4- The Serpent Strikes

**Hello, all my loyal readers. Back with yet another chapter. I'm getting a clearer idea of exactly how I want to take this with every passing chapter, so hopefully updates will come more frequently.**

 **Alright. Here we go. You're finally gonna learn the mystery woman's identity in this chapter.**

 **Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 4- The Serpent Strikes

Dinah sighs as she climbs out onto the roof neighboring their target building. "What are we doing here?" she demands of her new ally.

"We're here because Sean Sonus is taking in a major shipment of slide. He'll be exposed. Out in the open for long enough for us to hit him," Adrian says. He then flips up his mask and hood, and says in the voice of Prometheus, "And that's when you can exact your revenge."

Dinah looks at him, still wondering who exactly he is. Then, Prometheus says, "There he is."

Dinah looks out at the roof across from theirs. A group of men is on the roof. Dinah raises some binoculars to her eyes, and sees Sonus in the middle.

"Come on," Prometheus orders, and runs to one corner of the roof. He then draws a grappling hook arrow and shoots it across to the other roof. "Let's go," he says before he begins to slide down the cable. Dinah only hesitates for a moment before she follows him.

On the rooftop, Sonus watches as the helicopter slowly comes down towards the roof. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an explosion blows off the tail and the chopper goes spinning down, trailing flames.

Sonus just stares in surprise at the sight. Then, there's a twang from behind him, followed by a scream.

Sonus and his men turn around in surprise, and see Prometheus standing there. Sonus looks at him for a moment before saying loudly, "Wow. The throwing star killer. A surprise to find you out this far. What did I do to engender your attention?"

Prometheus laughs. "Because I'm not here to fulfill my agenda. I'm here to help someone else fulfill theirs," he declares. Before anyone can say anything, an ear-shattering scream causes everyone in Sonus' group to clutch their ears in pain, disoriented from the scream.

Then, as they're still disoriented, Dinah leaps into view. She quickly attacks Sonus' men, striking them with her gun or kicking them in the head, knocking them unconscious, while unleashing an occasional scream. Prometheus joins her attack, yanking out his sword and cutting down everyone in his path.

Dinah clubs down one final man, then whips around to see Sonus standing just a few feet away from her. Sonus grins before his eyes begin to glow. Dinah instantly begins to grow nauseous and starts to collapse. That is, until an arrow pierces his shoulder from behind. Sonus collapses, with Prometheus standing behind him, slowly lowering his bow.

Dinah raises her gun, aiming it at Sonus. Sonus looks up at her, and grins. "What are you waiting for?" he asks.

Dinah hesitates, her gun still aiming right at his heart. After a moment, Prometheus says, "What are you waiting for? You've been waiting for this moment for years. Why are you hesitating?"

Dinah stands there for a moment. Then, Prometheus says in a lower voice, "Pull the trigger, Dinah. Avenge Vincent."

A bang echoes out, and Sonus falls dead instantly. Dinah stands there for a moment before releasing the gun.

"Good," Prometheus says slowly. Dinah looks up at him.

"Why? Why have you been so determined to see me kill Sonus? Why were you so determined to see me kill?" Dinah demands.

"Because," Prometheus says as he removes his mask. He looks at her for a moment before continuing, "You need to see the truth. That you need to do whatever it takes to see justice done."

Dinah narrows her eyes a bit. "What do you really want?" she demands.

"I came to help you bring down the man who killed your former partner and lover. I am trying to bring down the man who killed my father. And unfortunately, he has a very dangerous friend trying to protect him. Several, in fact. I helped you. Now, I am asking for you to return the favor," Chase responds.

Dinah looks at Chase, feeling there's more than he's letting on going on here. But, at the same time, he did help her take down Sonus. In a way, she owes him this much. And, getting to take down another murderer would be a nice break.

"Alright. I'm open. Let's get some drinks, and you can tell me more about who this guy is, and why you need me," Dinah replies.

* * *

(Star City, the following night)

Bucky walks down the darkened streets of Star City, heading towards the bunker. Suddenly his phone rings. He quickly picks it up and answers the call. "Hello, Bucky Barnes," he says into the phone.

"Hello, Mr. Barnes. This is District Attorney Chase. I just thought I would let you know I'm on my way back to town, and headed to meet with Mr. Diggle right now. I've got a few ideas of how I can stop General Walker from taking Mr. Diggle. Just give me some time," Chase says.

"Alright, thank you, Mr. Chase," Bucky says. Right then, he hears a crunching of gravel, and stops short.

"Excuse me, Mr. Chase. I'll have to talk to you again later," Bucky says before he hangs up. Bucky stands motionless for a few moments. Then, he whips around and catches a flying fist aimed right for the back of his head.

Bucky stands there for a moment, just taking enough time to realize his attacker is a woman. Then, he forces her arm down and kicks at her. She lets go of him and does a backhand spring. When she stands up, Bucky gets a good look at her.

She has green hair down to her shoulders, with some green lipstick. She's wearing a green body suit that is sleeveless, but with a collar around her neck. Several weapons are at her waist, and she's wearing a pair of green boots.

"Who are you?" Bucky demands.

She laughs. "I haven't given my true name to someone in years. I don't intend to change that trend now." She then launches at him and spins into a roundhouse kick, which Bucky stops by grabbing her ankle. She grins and whispers, "But you can call me Viper."

Bucky shoves her away, then throws a punch right at her head, which she manages to duck under and strikes back at him. "You're working with Prometheus," Bucky states.

"Maybe," she says with a chuckle. Bucky growls, and the two then launch into a flurry of blows.

Bucky is privately impressed. It's clear that this Viper has been trained very well. She's just about as skilled as him.

For nearly a minute, the two continue to fight. It slowly becomes obvious that Bucky is the more skilled of the two. Finally, Bucky manages to land a kick on her leg. She stumbles back, before Bucky manages to land a punch to her head, knocking her flying back.

Viper sprawls on the ground, but quickly gets onto her knees. She looks up at Bucky, then smiles. "That was a good Round 1. I have some friends who want to say hi to you. I'll see you later," she says. Right then, two men race out from an alley and attack Bucky.

Bucky ducks under the first one's blow. He manages to get him in a headlock and quickly snaps his neck. He then draws the man's knife from his hip sheath and slashes at the man. The man ducks, pulling out his own knife and slashing at Bucky, who blocks it with his vibranium arm. He then drives his knife into the man's chest. The man quickly collapses, dead.

Bucky stands there for a moment, breathing heavily. He looks up, and sees that Viper has escaped.

Bucky sighs. "S***. Things just got more complicated," he says to himself.

* * *

 **And there we go! Hope you liked this chapter.**

 **So, yes. The mystery woman, Talia's replacement on Chase's team, is Viper. The woman also known as Madame Hydra. I considered a number of people to fill this position. The main other candidates were Grim Reaper, Constrictor, Baron Zemo in his comic form, Lizard, and Count Nefaria. But, in the end, I decided to go with Viper. The character has showed up in the MCU, as a character on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This is a different version of the character, native to Earth-1. I imagine her being portrayed by Liv Tyler.**

 **I hope you guys are liking this so far. I hope you're excited to see Viper in action, and see one more new character I have plans to introduce in this story at some point.**

 **Until next time. Review, and stay tuned.**


	5. Chapter 5- Diggle's Last Chance

**Alright. Back with another chapter!**

 **I hope you guys liked me including Viper as an ally of Prometheus. She'll be a big part of this story, and her appearance in this will help set up a future story that will feature Taskmaster, who I introduced in Flash: Dark Dimension (which, by the way, is set after this story, timeline wise). And for your information, no, Taskmaster will not be in this story at all.**

 **Let's get to it. Here's a spot where this story is going to vary a fair bit from the show.**

* * *

Chapter 5- Diggle's Last Chance

"So, you got attacked by some woman in green who called herself Viper?" Felicity asks Bucky, as the rest of the team looks at him silently.

Bucky nods as he sits down against a desk. "Yeah. I was on the phone with Adrian Chase when I heard someone sneaking up on me. I had just hung up when she attacked me. I didn't manage to get much out of her, except for the name Viper, and that she works with Prometheus. But, the fact she also had backup concerns me. That means there's bound to be more people working with her, and thereby working with Prometheus. It was bad enough he had a few people working with him. Possibly having an army makes the situation that much worse."

"Well, then, we need to figure out a way to figure out who she is, and who these followers of hers are," Felicity says.

"And why she's working with Prometheus," Curtis adds.

Bucky nods. Right then, his phone rings. He holds up a finger to make the team be quiet, and answers with a, "Hello?"

"Mr. Barnes, it's District Attorney Chase," comes the answer.

Bucky lets out a relaxed sigh. "Ah. Mr. Chase. Thank you for calling me back. What have you got?"

"I visited Mr. Diggle in prison. General Walker was there as well. He is attempting to have Mr. Diggle transferred into his custody. And frankly, I agree with his assessment that Walker will attempt to have Mr. Diggle killed as soon as possible once Mr. Diggle is in his custody. I've got an idea of how to keep Mr. Diggle out of his custody, and I think it's gonna work," Chase says.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Chase. Give me a call as soon as there are any developments," Bucky asks.

"Understood. I got to go," Adrian replies before hanging up.

Bucky lowers his phone and looks around at the team. "That was Chase. Apparently, he's seen Diggle, and General Walker is trying to get him transferred to his custody. Chase is working on an idea to keep Diggle out of Walker's hands. He thinks it's gonna work. Hopefully, we'll hear some good news soon," he says.

"Hopefully, it does. We need some good news, right now," Curtis says.

Bucky nods in agreement. "Yeah. Now, why don't you all get out of here and get some rest? I think you're gonna need it," he suggests.

* * *

(A few hours later)

Bucky sits down at the table in his apartment, hoping he can finally get some time to eat a somewhat decent dinner.

Right as he is starting to take a bite out of his pork chop, his phone rings. Bucky sighs, then takes a quick bite before he answers his phone.

"Hello?" he answers.

"It's Chase. My plan worked. I've managed to keep Mr. Diggle out of General Walker's hands for now. Walker is still working to get Mr. Diggle into his custody. We need to figure out a way to keep him out of General Walker's hands for good," Adrian says. He pauses for a moment, then continues, "I did a little digging. Apparently General Walker has been under investigation by the NSA, but Walker managed to get the investigation shut down. The file is sealed, and we probably won't get our hands on it anytime soon. We have a lead, but the chances of us getting to use that lead are very small."

Bucky sighs internally. After a moment, Bucky says, "Alright. Thank you, Mr. Chase. I'll call up some friends I know in NSA, see if I can't get anything. Call me back if you get anything new, especially if General Walker tries anything new."

Bucky hangs up, then lowers his phone. But only for a moment. He quickly raises it back to his ear as he dials Felicity.

The moment Felicity picks up, Bucky says urgently, "Call everyone. I need the team to meet in the bunker ASAP."

* * *

"So, explain again what's going on?" Curtis asks Bucky.

"Chase called me. Diggle is safe for now, but maybe not for long. Chase also told me that the NSA had Walker under investigation, but Walker shut the investigation down and it's gonna take forever for the NSA to hand over the file. The chances of us managing to get the NSA to give us access to it in time to save Diggle is next to nothing," Bucky says.

"Okay, so that doesn't give us much to work with, except trying to hack the file from the NSA," Curtis says.

"Already on it," Felicity says as she begins typing away.

"Probably not gonna work," Bucky says, drawing everyone's attention. He pauses for a moment, then says, "Knowing what I know about Walker, I don't think he would have allowed the file to continue existing. I'd be willing to bet my other arm that he's tried, and probably succeeded at least to a degree, in getting the file erased. The chance of you finding the file is very small."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Bucky," Felicity says in slight irritation.

"I didn't say there wasn't another way we could get it. There's bound to be some paper records tied to it. And if we can access the NSA database directly, we may have a better chance of finding something," Bucky says.

"What are you saying?" Curtis asks.

Bucky grins a bit. "The Winter Soldier is going to break into the NSA," he says with a grin.

* * *

 **Alright. I'll end there. Originally I was going to go through Bucky breaking into the NSA. But, I figured that would take too long. I'll go through that next chapter, as well as Diggle getting freed.**

 **I know that I skipped over the scenes of Adrian's meetings with Diggle, but I figured I wouldn't need to, as nothing is changed. Plus, Bucky has been a little preoccupied with Viper.**

 **Keep giving me ideas for what you want to see in this story, and give me your feedback. Also, if any of you know which NSA facility is the proper one for Bucky to infiltrate, let me know.**

 **Until next time. Please review, and stay tuned!**


	6. Chapter 6- Infiltration

**Alright. Back with another chapter.**

 **I hope all of you reading this story are enjoying it. I am grateful for your support. It's nice seeing all the views and reviews my stories get. It's what motivates me to keep going and continue writing.**

 **Alright. On with the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 6- Infiltration

The normal night sounds around a governmental installation, and patrolling guards around the perimeter, are the only sign of activity around the NSA's Utah Data Center in Bluffdale, Utah. Everything suggests it's just a normal night. But this is definitely not going to be a normal night.

On the backside of the Center, near where the power substation is located just outside the perimeter fence, a black clad figure leaps over the fence, landing on his knees before hitting the dirt on one knee.

Bucky stays motionless, letting a searchlight pass over him. He's not dressed in his customary Winter Soldier uniform. He's wearing a slight different black outfit, with a black leather jacket, and a black balaclava to hide his face. Instead of his usual weapons, he's equipped with tranquilizer guns, a stun baton, and a hand tazer. He also has his arm disguise on.

Bucky waits for a moment, letting the searchlight pass over him again, then he leaps to his feet and races towards the water storage tank closest to him. Once he reaches it, he dives behind it, just avoiding being seen by a patrolling guard. He contemplates tranqing the guard, but decides against it.

Bucky waits for the guard to get out of earshot, then reaches up for his earpiece. "Alright, Felicity. Where am I headed to?" he asks Felicity over comms.

"I've been analyzing the schematics of this place. The most likely place for you to find the file is in Data Hall 2, which is in the southern storage building," Felicity replies.

"Got it," Bucky says. He waits another moment before racing over to the power buildings, which stand between the water tower and the northern data storage building. Once he reaches one of them, he fires an extension cable up and hauls himself up to the roof. There are a couple of guards stationed on the roof. Bucky immediately pulls out his tranquilizer gun and tranqs them.

Once the guards are all unconscious, Bucky runs to the other end of the roof and crouches down. For several minutes, Bucky sits there, watching the guards go by, trying to pick out a pattern in the patrols. Finally, he starts to get a feel for the pattern of the patrols. And he seizes his chance.

As soon as there's a gap big enough in the patrols, Bucky holds up a special gun and fires off an extension cable to the roof of the northern data storage building. As soon as the cable attaches, Bucky slides across it to the data storage building.

As he reaches the roof of the building, Bucky ducks down to avoid being seen by guards passing below. For a moment, Bucky finds himself somewhat disappointed. He had expected more guards and heavier security measures. However, he quickly catches himself. He doesn't want to jinx the operation.

After a moment, Bucky stands. He crouches a little bit, getting into a running stance. He takes a deep breath, then leaps forward, sprinting right towards the edge of the roof. Reaching the edge, he takes a flying leap, and manages to clear the distance to the administration building between the two data storage buildings. Without even stopping, he continues running across the roof of the administration building, then jumps across to the roof of the southern data storage building.

Bucky stops for a moment, waiting and listening for any signs that' he's been spotted. After a few tense moments, he lets out a deep breath he had been holding in. Then, he whispers into his comms and says, "Alright, Overwatch. I'm on the roof of the target building. Where exactly do I need to go?"

"From what I can tell from the blueprints I hacked from the NSA, the console you're looking for should be on the third floor, in Data Hall 2," Felicity replies.

"Got it," Bucky responds. He waits for a moment, then walks up to the edge of the building. Bucky attaches an anchor to the edge of the building, then gives the line a few tugs to test it. The anchor doesn't budge.

Bucky smiles before leaping off the roof. Keeping away from the windows, he slowly rappels down towards the third floor. As he gets down beside the third floor window, he draws out a small device worked up for him by Curtis. He holds it out, and a laser cuts a hole in the glass. Stowing the device back in his belt, Bucky reaches through the window and unlocks it from the inside.

After carefully sliding the window open, Bucky swings in and lands on one knee. He quickly stands up and hurries to shut the window, just to avoid an open window arousing suspicion. He then whispers over comms, "Alright, I'm in."

"Okay. I've been analyzing the schematics. If you go down the hallway to your right, the second door on your right, it'll take you down another hall. The third door on your right will lead you into the target room," Felicity says.

Bucky draws one of his tranquilizer guns and makes his way down the hall. Once he reaches the second door, he slowly opens it and glances into the hall. A single guard is patrolling the hall, walking away from Bucky at the moment. Bucky quickly raises his tranquilizer gun and fires a single dart into the man's back. The guard quickly slumps to the ground unconscious.

Bucky darts down the hall and into the target room. Lining the walls are multiple server towers, with a massive console in the center of the room, with cables feeding from it to the server towers. Bucky hurries up to it and plugs in a USB drive.

"Alright, I'm with the main console, and I've got the drive plugged in," Bucky says over comms.

"Alright. Plugging in that drive is gonna send an alert to the administration building. You're gonna have security all over you in about two minutes. You're gonna have to move quick," Felicity says.

Bucky doesn't respond, now totally focused. Felicity had briefed him beforehand on how to find the file. Despite not being particularly proficient with a computer, he knows enough to be able to follow Felicity's instructions. As he searches through the files, he counts down the time that Felicity gave him until security should arrive.

Finally, with about 30 seconds left, Bucky finally sees the file. "Yes, found it," he says over comms as he opens the file. He quickly searches the file's contents to make sure it's not a dummy file. And sees it's full of the information they've been looking for. Bucky quickly hurries to download the file.

"Bucky, you need to hurry. Guards are coming!" Felicity says uregently over the comms.

"I need just a few more seconds," Bucky says tersely. A few more tense seconds pass before the download finishes, and Bucky yanks the USB drive out of the port and stores it back in his belt.

Bucky turns and hurries to the door. He bursts out of the room, and sees two guards ready to burst into the room. He quickly punches the first in the face. The second tries to raise his gun, but Bucky reaches forward, grabs his wrist, yanks the guard towards him while stepping out of the way, and elbows him in the face before throwing him to the ground.

Knowing he's lost the element of secrecy, Bucky bolts back down towards where he entered the building from. Bursting into the first hallway that holds the window he entered through. Bucky finds 10 guards racing down the hall towards him.

Bucky raises his gun and tranqs the first two. A third guard gets close enough and lunges at Bucky, fist extended. Bucky jumps back and brings his fist down on top of the guy's head, knocking him out. He then easily blocks another guard's right hook before delivering a strong punch with his cybernetic arm, knocking him out too.

Two more guards try to attack Bucky. He ducks under the fist of one of them and punches the guy in the chest, knocking him back into the wall. He then dodges aside as the next guard throws a punch, grabs the guy's arm, then jumps up and kicks the guy in the side of the head.

Bucky then yanks out his stun baton and snaps it out. He takes a swing and hits one guard across the face, knocking him out. Another guard tries to hit Bucky with his own baton, but Bucky blocks it with his own. The two exchange several blows before they clash and try to push back against the other. Bucky then pulls out his hand taser and jabs the guard with it. The guy soon collapses.

The last two guard try and rush to attack Bucky. Bucky blocks the first few blows of the first one before grabbing his fist, forcing it down, then jumping up and knocking him out with a round house kick. The final guy throws a punch right at Bucky's head. Bucky grabs his fist, then kicks him the knee, making the guard crumble to his knees. Bucky finishes him off with a strong punch to the head.

Bucky stands there for a moment, then races for the window. This time, instead of being careful, punches out the window and leaps right out. He fires off a grappling hook and swings up to the roof.

As soon as he reaches the roof, Bucky takes off running, heading right towards the administration building. Reaching the edge of the roof, he leaps across the to the administration building. He continues running across the roof and leaps across to the other data storage building. Racing across that roof, he leaps off the roof, managing to break his fall by somersaulting as he hits the ground. He then books it right for the fence where he entered the facility. By now, alarms are blaring, and Bucky can hear the sounds of guards shouting behind him as they start coming out of the buildings, looking for the intruder.

Bucky puts on an extra burst of speed and manages to make it to the fence before guards manage to spot him. He leaps up onto the fence and clambers over the top, dropping down on the other side. He doesn't wait before booking it for the hills.

Finally, Bucky manages to make it out of sight of the facility and ducks into a crevice. He waits for a moment, then chuckles to himself before activating comms.

"Overwatch, do you copy?" he asks.

"Loud and clear," Felicity responds.

Bucky smiles as he says, "I got the file, and I'm in the hills behind the facility. They're not gonna find me. I'm gonna start making my way to Salt Lake City. I'll be on the first flight back to Star City." He pauses for a moment before saying, "Diggle's gonna get out."

* * *

 **And, I'll end there. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it wasn't as action packed as I originally wanted. Next will include John's release.**

 **I chose to go with the Utah Data Facility because I thought it was the most likely spot, other than NSA HQ at Fort Meade, and I thought Fort Meade would be much harder for Bucky to get into and get what he needed.**

 **Alright. I'll end right here. Please review, and stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7- Freedom

**Alright, back with another chapter.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. I know it was not as action packed as you probably hoped, but I hope it didn't really disappoint.**

 **Also, just as a notice. I will not be doing most of the episodes from the rest of the season. The only episodes I currently plan on doing are episodes 12 and 14. Because Oliver isn't here, and since Talia is not working with Chase, most of the other episodes won't work. The ending of the story will be similar to how it went in the show, but will include some differences.**

 **Alright. Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 7- Freedom

Bucky walks up to Felicity, a triumphant smile on his face. He holds out the USB drive and says, "I got it."

Felicity smiles as she takes it and plugs it into her computer. She types a few commands and pulls up the contents on the drive. She speed reads through the files, her smile growing.

"Think there's enough on this thing to exonerate John?" Bucky asks.

Felicity is quiet for a few more moments. Then, she turns to Bucky and smiles even more. "Not only enough to exonerate John, but enough to see General Walker court-martialed as well," she says.

Bucky smiles broadly. "Alright. I'm going to take this to Chase and see what he can do," Bucky says as he takes the USB drive and heads to walk out of the lair.

As he nears the elevator, Laurel walks up. "Well. That mission went very well," she says with a grin.

"Yeah," Bucky says with a grin. After a pause, he says, "I gotta go. I gotta get this to the DA."

"I know. But, I have a favor to ask you. I think I finally figured out a way to get me introduced to Star City without arousing suspicion," Laurel says with a sly grin.

"Really? Alright, I'm listening," Bucky says.

"It's not hard. But you may not be too enthusiastic about what it entails," Laurel says. Bucky looks at her in confusion, but as she explains, his confusion disappears.

"This is a bad idea," he says when she finishes.

"Maybe. But it'll work," she says. Bucky sighs. He has to agree with her. This may work.

* * *

(City Hall)

Adrian Chase looks up from the file he's reading as he hears a knock on his door. "Come in," he calls out.

The door opens, and Bucky walks in. He smiles as he holds up the USB drive. "I got it. A contact I have in the NSA pulled some strings, and managed to get me this. It has the case file on General Walker on it," Bucky says.

Chase grins and holds out his hand. "Well, let's take a look," he says.

Bucky hands him the USB. Chase plugs it into his computer, pulls up the file, and starts reading. It doesn't take long before he looks up at Bucky. "I'm not even all the way through, and I can already tell there's enough," he says. He unplugs the drive and says, "I'll get this to the judge. We're gonna get Mr. Diggle freed."

* * *

(Iron Heights, hours later)

Bucky smiles as he stands behind Chase, who is sitting in a chair at the table. Behind them, the door opens, and a guard leads Diggle inside and over the table. Diggle sits down and looks at the two of them before he asks, "What's going on?"

"You tell him," Bucky says, trying to contain his excitement and sense of triumph.

Diggle is still confused. "Tell me what?" he asks.

Chase leans back in his seat a little bit, grins a bit, and says, "Earlier this evening…Mr. Barnes brought me flash drive containing the case file on Walker, which was leaked to him thanks to contact in the NSA. On the strength of it, I went to the judge advocate ex parte and got you released on bail."

Diggle starts to smile a bit as he asks, "Wait, what?"

Chase, looking more satisfied than ever, says, "I filed a motion to dismiss, which is as close to a slam dunk as these things get given the cards we're holding."

Diggle, still not fully getting the implications, asks, "What does this mean?"

Bucky smiles and speaks up. "It means that you can go home and hug your wife and son, and that the Army is preparing to court-martial Walker," he says with a hint of glee in his voice.

Diggle chuckles a bit, looking at Chase and Bucky like he can't believe it. Chase and Bucky both look at each other with satisfied grins.

Bucky and Chase soon leave the room so the guards can come get Diggle and get him ready to be released. As they walk out of Iron Heights, Bucky stops to wait for Diggle.

"Thank you so much for your help, Adrian," Bucky says, feeling comfortable calling him by his first name.

Chase grins back at him. "Of course, Mr. Barnes. I'm glad we were able to free an innocent man and put the blame on the real criminal here," he says. He waits for a moment, then says, "I enjoyed getting to work with you, Mr. Barnes. And I have a feeling we're gonna get along great. Next time you need some help, give me a call." Chase extends his hand, which Bucky takes with a grin.

* * *

(Highway outside Star City)

It's very late at night on the outskirts of Star City. A lone semi truck, carrying a load of goods for a department store in the city, is cruising down the road. The driver is feeling kind of bored, and very tired, and just wants to make his delivery so he can stop for the night.

Suddenly, up ahead, the driver sees a lone figure wander out onto the road ahead of him. The driver quickly hits the brakes as hard as he dares so that the semi doesn't lose control. It stops just short of this figure.

The driver sits still in surprise. His headlights are completely illuminating this person, who he can now see is a woman. After a moment he opens his door and leaps out of the truck, hurrying around to the front.

"Are you okay?" he asks, worried at the sight of bruises and dried blood on her face. She looks up at him, as if she's somewhat in a daze.

"I…I thought nobody would find me. I finally escaped….but I was afraid nobody would ever find me," she responds.

"What-what's your name?" the driver asks.

She waits for a moment, then slowly responds, "Laurel Lance."

* * *

(Lian Yu)

In a secret ARGUS prison on the island of Lian Yu, Slade Wilson lies back on his cot, trying to get to sleep. Suddenly, the door into the prison is flung open.

Slade sits up and watches as three men walk in, followed by Viper.

"Who the h*** are you supposed to be?" Slade demands. Viper just smirks at him before raising a tranquilizer gun and firing a dart at Slade. Within seconds, Slade falls back on his cot, unconscious.

Two guards race into the room, guns at the ready. But Viper's guards gun them down before they can get off a shot.

Viper smiles as she walks past the dead guards. "Don't startle my boys," she says with a smirk.

Viper walks into another room, and looks into the cell in the room. And lying against the wall is her target.

He looks up at Viper. After a moment, he asks, "Okay. Who are you?"

"I'm Viper," she replies. She laughs a bit, then says, "And I have an offer for you, Mr. Harkness."

* * *

 **I'll end right there.**

 **I know that Harkness is getting recruited a little earlier than he did in the show, but I'd always kinda wondered why Adrian waited so long to reach out to him. Plus, I thought it would be kinda interesting to have Viper go recruit him, since in the comics, Viper has allied at times with the Marvel villain Boomerang.**

 **And yes, Laurel has revealed herself. I just stuck with how she did it in the show because it was easier that way.**

 **Next chapter is gonna be the start of the events of episode 12. I'm still working out how they're gonna connect with Anatoli and the Bratva, but I'll get it figured out before the next chapter. Also, let me know if you'd like to see a new character introduced to help them out, or to fight on Walker's side. Mainly, either Kraven the Hunter or Colossus.**

 **Also, quick poll. Just on something I've noticed as I've rewatched Season 5 to plan this story. Has anyone noticed that Prometheus' voice got less intimidating as the season went on, or is it just me?**

 **Alright. Until the next chapter, please review, and stay tuned.**


	8. Chapter 8- The Escape

**Alright, everyone. Back with another chapter.**

 **I'm glad that my readers seem to be enjoying this story so far, although not as many people are reading this as I hoped. Still, I love writing this story, so I don't really mind.**

 **This chapter starts the events of season 5 episode 12, which will probably last for two or three chapters, depending on how much I want to cram into each chapter. And yes, Anatoli and the Bratva will still be involved. And, we'll finally see Laurel's existence officially revealed to the public, albeit with her story she's concocted for how she's supposedly survived Darhk.**

 **BTW, Quentin knows about Laurel. I'm not going to cover that, but he is aware of her, though hasn't gotten to see her really.**

 **Let's get started.**

* * *

Chapter 8- The Escape

The whole team, except Laurel, waits eagerly in the lair, excited for the expected arrival. They don't have to wait long before the elevator doors open, revealing Diggle, a bag over his shoulder.

"Welcome back, Diggle," Bucky says with a grin. Felicity then hurries forward and hugs John.

John chuckles as he hugs Felicity back. "It's good to be back guys," he says before letting Felicity go. He looks up at everybody and just smiles. "I can't tell you how much I've missed this."

"Well, we will have plenty for you to do. Glad to have you back," Bucky says.

Diggle nods, then looks around the lair. "Where's Laurel?" he asks.

"Wellllll…that's complicated," Bucky replies.

Diggle looks confused, as does everybody else. But, before they can ask any questions, Felicity's phone rings. She looks down at it before answering it with a simple, "Hello?"

Everyone looks at Felicity for a moment. Then, Felicity looks up from her phone and says, "That was Thea. Apparently, there's something on the news we need to see."

She races over to her computer and types a few things. The screen is suddenly taken over by the news channel, as the reporter is in the middle of talking.

"..City Police have not confirmed all the particulars of the incident. But we know that the woman was spotted on the side of the road by a truck driver on his way to make a delivery. Police have confirmed her identity as Dinah Laurel Lance, the former District Attorney who was believed to have been killed by Damien Darhk almost a year ago, and who was revealed to have been the vigilante known as the Black Canary. Miss Lance was admitted to Starling General with multiple injuries. We do not yet have any information as to how she is still alive, and will keep you updated as new information is released," the reporter says.

Everyone looks at the screen in surprise, then everybody turns to Bucky, who is grinning. "Okay, hoss. What's going on?" Rene demands.

Bucky lets out a single chuckle, and says, "This is our clever plan to let Laurel build a life in Star City."

* * *

(Starling General, the following afternoon)

Bucky smiles as he walks down the hallway of the hospital, with Diggle and Thea following him. As they reach Laurel's room, they find a doctor standing outside.

"How is she?" Bucky asks, trying to sound concerned.

"She'll be fine. We're actually gonna release her in an hour. Most of her wounds were very superficial. She has lingering scars and evidence of a fractured arm, but other than that is relatively healthy. Her wound from being stabbed by the arrow reopened during her escape, but we were able to patch it up. She'll need to take some time to heal, but she's just about ready to get out of here," the doctor replies.

"Thank you. Can we go in?" Bucky asks. The doctor nods in response, and Bucky, Diggle, and Thea walk in.

Laurel is just finishing changing into more comfortable clothes. As they enter, she turns towards the door and smiles upon seeing them. "Hey, guys. I was wondering how long it would take you to come visit me," she says.

"I am hoping that arrow didn't hurt you too bad," Bucky says apologetically.

Laurel laughs. "I've had worse," she replies.

"So, this was your plan. Stab Laurel with an arrow so she'll have the same scar as our Laurel?" Diggle asks.

"Yup, pretty much," Bucky says.

"Do you think it's gonna fool everybody?" Thea asks.

"All Laurel is to do is be as convincing as she can when she delivers her story to the press, and we'll have everyone believing her," Bucky says.

The door opens and the doctor walks in, so everyone stops talking about the plan. He looks at his chart before looking up at Laurel and says, "Alright, Miss Lance. I want to run one more X-Ray on your right arm. Once I get the results from that X-Ray, you'll be good to go." Laurel nods, though it is clear she wants to leave.

Bucky, Diggle, and Thea all wait for Laurel as she has that last X-Ray done, and waits for the results. After a wait that is frustratingly long for Laurel, the doctor comes back into the room, this time with his clipboard and a box.

"Well, Miss Lance, the X-Ray came back mostly okay. I did spot a sprain in your wrist, so I'd like you to wear this wrist brace just to prevent you from hurting it further. You should be able to take it off in a week or so," the doctor says. Laurel is clearly not happy, but she accepts it, and Thea helps her put it on.

"Alright. Everything else checks out, so, Miss Lance, you are free to head home," the doctor says with a smile.

Bucky is sure if she could, Laurel would go sprinting out of the hospital at this point. However, she contains herself, and walks with Bucky and the others down to the checkout desk.

Once they reach the lobby, the group stops short upon seeing Quentin waiting there for him. Quentin sees them enter the lobby, and his eyes just fall on Laurel. It takes him a moment, but he finally stands and walks over. Bucky, Diggle, and Thea step back to give them some room.

For several moments, Laurel and Quentin just stand there. Then, Quentin reaches out and pulls Laurel into a hug. Laurel is stiff for a moment, then slowly hugs him back.

"You know I'm not really your daughter," Laurel says.

"I know. But you're as good as my daughter. And I'll try and treat you as such," Quentin says, tears coming to his eyes. And Laurel feels herself getting a little emotional too, remembering her deceased father.

Finally, Quentin releases her, looks her over once, then says, "Let's get you checked out of this place."

"Yes, let's," Laurel says with a relief, and almost runs to the checkout desk, drawing smiles from everyone else.

It doesn't take long for Laurel to get checked out. Finally, she is able to leave the hospital.

As she walks out, Quentin by her side, and Bucky, Diggle, and Thea following her, reporters outside see her and begin shouting question. The Mayor Security Detail moves to restrain them and quiet them down.

Laurel raises her hands for quiet, and the reporters slowly quiet down. She looks over them all and says, "I'm feeling very tired, and want to go home, but I'm willing to answer a question or two."

"Miss Lance, how did you survive? It was reported you had died after being stabbed by Damien Darhk," a reporter calls out.

"That's what HIVE wanted you to believe. Damien Darhk laced the arrowhead with a drug before he stabbed me with it. It is a secret drug created by and stolen from the government, intended to give the image of death. Once the drug took effect, I appeared dead in virtually every way. However, after I had been put away to be prepped for burial, agents of HIVE snuck into the hospital and stole me away. I was taken to a HIVE facility, given the antidote for the drug, and imprisoned. HIVE intended to subject me to brainwashing techniques to turn me into one their agents. The death of Damien Darhk and loss of so many of their operatives set them back and forced them to go underground. I was moved multiple times, until just earlier this week, when I was finally able to get the chance I needed to escape from HIVE. I don't remember where the facility they had me at is, however, and my memory of the last year is somewhat spotty, due to the experiments I was subjected to. However, I was able to figure out the way to Star City, and was trying to get home when the kind driver found me on the side of the road and brought me the rest of the way to Starling," Laurel answers.

"Your friend Oliver Queen confirmed at your funeral that you were the vigilante known as the Black Canary. Is that true?" another reporter asks.

"Yes, it is. However, that life cost me much, and I'm not in as good of shape as I used to be. I don't plan on returning to life as the Black Canary anytime soon," Laurel replies simply.

There's silence for a moment before a third reporter asks, "There's been recent reports of a masked woman in a black uniform, possessing a strong scream, who has been working with the new vigilante known as the Winter Soldier. Do you think she's following your footsteps, and what would you say to her?"

"I think she may very well be attempting to fulfill my legacy. And before you ask, I do not know who she is. I would say to this woman that I don't mind you following in my footsteps, or even using my old alias, but I would advise her to be cautious. Still, I am proud of the initiative she has shown and her determination to protect this city," Laurel says.

She pauses briefly, then says, "I'll be taking no more question at this time." Reporters start shouting, but Quentin and the security detail get her through the reporters and down to the limousine, with Bucky, Diggle, and Thea following behind her.

Once everyone is in the limousine, everyone takes a deep breath. "I've always hated paparazzi," Laurel finally says, breaking the silence and drawing some laughs.

"Alright. Where to?" Quentin asks.

"Big Belly Burger," Laurel replies with a grin, drawing more laughs.

"Carl. Take us to the nearest Big Belly Burger!" Quentin calls out to the driver, who starts driving towards the nearest Big Belly Burger.

The group starts slowly chatting, trying to make conversation. That is, until Thea's phone goes off. She pulls it out and looks at the screen, and her face is instantly filled with worry.

"Thea. What is it?" Bucky asks, seeing her face.

Thea looks up at him, her expression grave. "It's General Walker. He and his men have escaped from military police custody. They shot their way out, and killed at least 30 men. And…the nuclear trigger they stole is missing. Local police and Air Force planes have been searching for him, but they can't find him anywhere."

Everyone looks around at each other, and Diggle looks very angry. Bucky is the one to speak up as he says, "Alright. Change of plan. We need to head to the lair. We have to find Walker."

* * *

(The lair, hours later)

Bucky sits there, sighing, knowing this is the best option.

For the past couple of hours, they've been working furiously to find Walker. Through ARGUS, they got intel that Walker was on his way to Russia to sell the nuke to some Markovian terrorists. Because it was in Russia, neither ARGUS nor the US military could help them. It was up to them.

But, from reading about Oliver's career as a vigilante, Bucky has an idea for what to do. He had Felicity collect a phone number for him, but has been slightly second guessing himself.

But not anymore. Bucky presses the call button, and waits as the phone rings. After a couple of rings, he hears the phone get picked up on the other end, and a man with a distinctive Russian accent on the other end demands, "Who is this?"

"My name is Bucky Barnes, a friend of Oliver Queen's, and I need to talk to you, Anatoli Knyazev.

У нас серьезная проблема, и мне нужна ваша помощь (We have a major problem, and I need your help)."

* * *

 **I'll end there.**

 **I hope this chapter wasn't too bad. I know it didn't have a lot, but I promise there will be more in the next chapter. I didn't expect everything I put in here to take up so much space.**

 **Also, just so you all know. I'm not currently planning to include Susan Williams in this story. I'll figure out a reason for her absence, but since Oliver isn't in this, i see no reason to include her.**

 **Until next time, please review, and stay tuned.**


	9. Chapter 9- Off to Russia

**Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.**

 **We're gonna see the team head to Russia in this chapter. And either in this chapter or the next, we're gonna see a new character get introduced to the MACU.**

 **Alright, let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 9- Off to Russia

"I have no wish to be involved in anything concerning Oliver Queen," Anatoli replies over the phone.

"Really, and why is that?" Bucky asks.

"He betray Bratva, and result in death of one of our highest men in Star City. He betray my trust," Anatoli responds.

"Really? And did you know that the this man you're talking about who died was actually killed by Slade Wilson, and Oliver's actions at the time were driven by him not being the right state of mind due to being under threat by Mr. Wilson?" Bucky asks, a slight tone of sarcasm in his voice.

There's silence on the other end for at least a good ten seconds, then Anatoli responds, in a more concerned tone, "Slade Wilson killed Alexi? And influenced Oliver?"

"Yeah. Slade came to Star City to exact his revenge on Oliver. He threatened to kill everyone Oliver loved and destroy the city. He'd already outsmarted and evaded Oliver several times. Oliver was desperate. He turned to the Bratva, and when they were resistant to the idea of helping Oliver, he threatened them a little to get their help. Slade found out they were helping him, and killed Alexi in retaliation, as well as to spite Oliver," Bucky replies.

Anatoli is quiet again for a moment. Then, he asks, "Who are you exactly?"

"My name is Bucky Barnes. I'm a US Army veteran, but was coerced into working for the KGB against my will for a while. Now, I'm back in the States. And I am coming back to Russia to handle a mission. And I could use some help. I hope, as a friend of Oliver's, and with what I told you about Slade, you might be willing to set your grievances with him aside and help me out," Bucky says.

Anatoli is again quiet for a few moments, then finally responds. "I see. Very well. I will be waiting for you at the airport in Moscow. We can talk then. No promises before then," he says before hanging up.

Bucky slowly lowers the phone, sighing a bit, knowing he's not gonna get anything better than that.

Bucky turns to look at the rest of the team, who are all looking at him.

"He's willing to work with us. Maybe. We're gonna meet him in Miscow at the airport. Hopefully he'll be in a cooperative mood. But, for now, we need to make our way to Russia," Bucky says.

* * *

(Two days later, Sheremetyovo International Airport)

Bucky slowly steps off the jetway off the Aeroflot flight from LAX. Diggle, Felicity, Laurel, and Rory all follow him off the flight.

"So, I'm not entirely sure what to look for. Do any of you know what this Anatoli looks like?" Bucky asks.

"I do," Diggle responds. He looks around for a moment, then points ahead of them and says, "And that's him."

Bucky looks to where Diggle is pointing, and sees a bearded man about his height, with two bigger men flanking him. They've already spotted the group and are heading towards them.

Bucky walks towards them, holding out his hand in a gesture of peace. "You must be Anatoli," Bucky says.

Anatoli eyes him cautiously. "Mr. Barnes?" he asks.

Bucky smirks. "Indeed, Anatoli. I'm glad to see you actually came. Now, I hope, we can talk further," Bucky says.

Anatoli examines Bucky, trying to get a read on him. But he can't. For the first time in a while, he can't get a read on a person. All he can sense is that there are many mysteries surrounding Bucky.

"Very well. Let us go somewhere we cannot be heard, then we talk," Anatoli says. They all nod, and follow Anatoli out of the airport.

Once outside, they all get in a limousine with Anatoli. For a minute, they just sit there in silence, staring at each other. Finally, Anatoli speaks up and asks, "Who are you, really, Mr. Barnes?"

Bucky smiles as he lifts his cybernetic arm and deactivates the nanite skin. He then says, "I'm the Winter Soldier. I used to work alongside the KGB as part of an organization called HYDRA. A friend of mine, Captain America, freed me from HYDRA, after which I came from my world to this one. Now, I work as part of Team Arrow protecting Star City."

Anatoli looks stunned. "Your world? There are others?" he asks.

"Yes. There are multiple Earths. I come from another one," Bucky says.

"Why are you here in Russia?" Anatoli asks.

"We're here because a rogue U.S. army general has escaped here to Russia with a nuclear warhead to sell to Markovian terrorists. We're here to stop the deal before that warhead ends up in really bad hands," Bucky explains.

Anatoli nods slowly. "Very well. I cannot guarantee anything. I cannot risk involving Bratva if you are friends with Oliver Queen. However, there are a few friends I may be able to call who will be willing to help regardless. For now, I suggest you find place to hide," he says.

* * *

(ARGUS safe house)

"Ugh, why does it feel like someone died of tuberculosis in here," Felicity remarks as they walk into the house.

"What's the Russian word for creepy?" Rory asks.

"Zhutko," Bucky answers.

"So, how exactly did you manage to get this place for us?" Laurel asks.

"This is an ARGUS safe house. As you can tell from the state of Amero-Russian relations, it hasn't been used in a while," Diggle says.

"And unfortunately, ARGUS can't operate here without causing an international incident, so letting us use this place is gonna be the extent of what ARGUS can do for us," Bucky adds.

Bucky turns towards Felicity. "Felicity, I need you to hack the Russian server and try and find any chatter that could lead us to Walker," he says.

"Already on it," Felicity says as she is pulling out her computer.

"What are the rest of us gonna do?" Diggle asks anxiously.

"Train…and wait," Bucky says.

* * *

(An hour later, the safe house)

"Got something!" Felicity calls out. Diggle and Bucky are both by her side quickly.

"Walker is still using his burner phone. I've tracked it to a church here in Moscow," Felicity says.

Bucky turns around to look at everybody and orders, "Suit up."

* * *

(The church)

"I spot ten civilians inside. No sign of Walker," Rory says over comms.

"I'm not spotting anything around back either," Laurel adds.

"Are you sure this is the spot, Overwatch?" Bucky asks as he and Diggle infiltrate the church through the basement.

"The signal from the phone shows he's there," Felicity says.

"There," Diggle suddenly says, pointing to a door that is slightly open.

"Dig, remember. There are civilians in here," Bucky warns him.

"I don't care Bucky, this might be our only shot," Diggle says fiercely.

Bucky's eyes narrow, and he growls slightly. "Let me make something clear, Diggle. I don't care what Walker has done. If you put civilians in danger just to get him, we will have problems here," Bucky says firmly, in a tone that suggests not to argue. Diggle glares at him for a moment before turning away. He steps forward and kicks down the door, only to find nothing. That is, except for a blinking light that comes on after the door opens.

"He knew we were coming," Diggle says. Right before three men jump into the hallway and open fire with assault rifles.

Diggle and Bucky both jump for cover, Bucky drawing his own assault rifle and waiting for a moment to strike back.

Both Rory and Laurel can clearly hear the gunfire from their positions. "Do you guys hear that?" Rory asks.

"Ragman, you need to get those civilians to safety. Black Siren, go help John and Bucky," Felicity says, wishing she didn't have to be working with Laurel.

"I'm on it," Laurel says as she races into the church.

Down below, Bucky and Diggle were fighting back. Bucky got off a burst from his assault rifle, and one of the men collapsed. As he did, Bucky and Diggle spot Walker standing in a doorway.

"I don't know who you men are. But I wanna thank you for being so willing to find me," Walker says before turning and disappearing.

Bucky pops up and fires again, killing another man. Laurel then hurries into the hall, using her scream to knock the last man into the wall and knock him out.

Bucky and Diggle both stand up, Diggle fuming at losing Walker. Bucky walks over to the last man and kneels down next to him.

"You're gonna wish I'd just killed you by the time this is all over," he says to the unconscious man.

* * *

(Safe house)

Walker's man slowly wakes up. As he does, he realizes his hands are chained up and chained to the ceiling. Looking around, he sees a man in a black uniform, wearing a ski mask, with a metal arm that has a red star at the top;

"Who are you?" the man demands, certain that this guy has to be a Russian.

From behind his mask, Bucky smirks. "Nobody of consequence. However, it's you I'm interested in. You worked under General Walker. I want to know where he is. And I guess that you're not gonna give this up information up easily. Just know that I was trained for years in interrogation and torture techniques by the KGB, and I can make your life incredibly unpleasant so long as you refuse to tell me what I know." He walks up to the man, pulling out a knife and flicking the tip across the man's cheek, opening a cut that makes him cry out.

"That was a small taste. Of what I can do with just a small knife. You don't want to know what I can do. I'll give some time to think about how intact you want to keep your body. And I have other ways to persuade you besides hurting you. Think about it," he says before walking out.

As Bucky walks out, he is confronted by Diggle, who looks angry. "You're just gonna leave him in there?!" he demands.

Bucky looks at him firmly. "Yes, I am Diggle. And if he doesn't give up anything, then I have ways of persuading him. I will handle this. Do you understand me?" he says.

Diggle stares him down for a few moments before turning and stalking away. Bucky stares after him before shaking his head. As he does, his phone starts to ring. He picks it up and answers, "Hello, Anatoli."

"I have a few friends who are willing to help me help you. However, I do not just hand out favors for free. If you want me to help you bring down Walker, then I need a favor from you," Anatoli responds.

Bucky says, then asks, "What do you want?"

* * *

 **I'll end there.**

 **I hope this chapter was okay, even though it didn't differ too much from the show.**

 **I'm not sure if I'm going to have Diggle go psycho on Walker's man. I may have Bucky stay behind and have Laurel and maybe Rory go handle Anatoli's favor. Let me know whether or not Diggle should go crazy.**

 **Next chapter may or may not finish up the pursuit of Walker, but it will introduce a new character. It should be up tomorrow or Friday.**

 **Until next timel, please review, and stay tuned.**


	10. Chapter 10- Bratva

**Hey, guys. Back with another chapter.**

 **I'm glad to getting near the end of the canon that I'll be following. After the team gets Walker, the events of Episode 14 will be the last canon events I plan on following. Well, until the finale.**

 **Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 10- Bratva

"Thanks for coming with me," Bucky says as he and Laurel head towards the warehouse Anatoli specified.

"Yeah. And I guess for not telling the others too, I reckon," Laurel says. Bucky gives just a single nod.

"We got lucky. Anatoli could've given us something really bad to do. This ain't too bad," Bucky says as he and Laurel slip on their masks. Bucky walks right up to the guy patrolling and knocks him out with a single punch. He and Laurel then march inside.

Two men try and fire their guns at the pair, but Bucky and Laurel quickly disarm them and knock them out before Bucky grabs their target and throws him through the big window and out onto the loading dock they just came from.

Bucky and Laurel walk outside, and Bucky grabs the guy's arm. "Анатолий Князев говорит, что у вас есть два дня, чтобы закрыть свой бизнес. И два сломанных пальца, чтобы напомнить вам.(Anatoli Knyazev says you have two days to shut your business down. And two broken fingers to remind you)," Bucky says in Russian before breaking two of the guy's fingers anjd walking away with Laurel.

As the two hop into the van, Laurel looks at Bucky and says, "You've done this before. And not as a vigilante in Star City."

"I've done far worse," Bucky says simply, his tone a clue to Laurel that he doesn't want to talk about it.

"Do you think it was a good idea leaving John there unsupervised?" Laurel asks.

"It's fine. Rory's keeping an eye on Walker's man, and I told him to stop Diggle from doing anything stupid," Bucky says as he starts the van and drives off, memories of his past in Russia still bothering him.

Laurel looks at Bucky, feeling very concerned about him. She has heard a bit about Prometheus, and his goals regarding Oliver. She's worried about him trying to do the same thing to Bucky, and honestly feels that for Bucky, it would be worse.

* * *

(Safe house)

Bucky and Laurel walk into the room where Felicity is typing away at her computer. "Where did you two go?" she asks.

"Doesn't matter right now. Where's John?" Bucky asks.

"Three guesses where," Felicity says a little sarcastically. It only takes Bucky a second to figure it out, and he sighs when he does. Without another word, he walks out and heads to the shed.

A few moments later, he and Laurel walk into the shed. Rory is standing there in his rags, with some of them holding Diggle up by his ankle. Diggle looks furious, and Rory is standing with his arms folded, looking at Diggle with disapproval.

Diggle looks over at Bucky and Laurel as they walk in, sighs in frustration, and asks, "Now that you're here, can you convince him to let me down?"

Bucky walks over so he's standing between John and Walker's man, then says, "Alright, Rory. You can let him down." Rory quickly puts Diggle down.

As soon as Diggle is down, he springs back to his feet and looks angrily at Bucky. "What are you playing at?" he demands.

"I knew you were gonna try something like this Diggle. I also know that Walker got in your head, and you are letting your emotions cloud your judgement. We are not gonna get anywhere with this attitude," Bucky says firmly.

Diggle glares at him. Bucky stares back at him sternly before saying, "Come on. I need to have a discussion with you. Now." He then forcefully leads Diggle out of the shed and into the safe house.

Once in the house, Diggle bursts out and says, "What are thinking, Bucky?! You're not taking this seriously! You thought waiting would get us anything?! It just gives Walker more time to get away!"

"You are letting your emotions rule your judgement. Beating the crap out of that guy the way you wanted to would just make any information he gave less reliable. And for your information, we're gonna have the location on Walker soon enough. I managed to get the Bratva to help. And taking the road of brutal and mindless torture just takes you down a very dark path. It's a path I crossed a long time ago, but it's not too late for you. From what I've gleaned from discussions with Felicity and Thea, you were always the calm one, trying to persuade Oliver to be better than your enemies. Don't let yourself become a hypocrite. You start down this path, you're not much better than Walker," Bucky says, a little harshly.

Diggle glares at Bucky. After a few tense moments, he sighs in frustration before walking away. Bucky then heads towards the shed, determined to get the information he needs. But hopefully with as little torture as possible.

* * *

(20 minutes later)

Bucky walks into the safe house, only a hint of blood on his hands. Joh, Felicity, and Laurel are waiting for him.

"Did you torture that guy?" asks Felicity. Bucky can't quite read her tone.

"Hardly. My threats were pretty effective. A few final touches, and he broke. I've got a location on where the buy is happening, and the Bratva are on their way here," Bucky says.

"So, you wouldn't let John torture him, but it was okay for you?" Felicity asks.

"I hardly tortured him at all, and only left a single scar. Well, that and a broken nose. John waited to beat him bloody. There's a difference between doing what I did and taking out your anger on somebody in the hopes you get some information. John, your emotions are taking you over too much. I was taken over by HYDRA and Zemo, and I did not get as desperate for justice as you are right now. I know you want revenge and justice, but you have to keep your head," Bucky says.

Diggle just looks at Bucky for a moment before he sighs, knowing Bucky has a point.

Suddenly, Rory comes hurrying in. "Hey, guys. Some angry Russian guys just showed up," he says.

Bucky walks outside, John, Felicity and Laurel following him. Sure enough, Anatoli is there, with half a dozen men along with him.

"Anatoli. Thank you for coming," Bucky says. He then points around at the men with him and asks, "Who are these guys?"

"Six friends who are willing to ignore Bratva ties to follow me. Well, and one friend who is not Bratva," Anatoli says. As he says this, the men behind him part, revealing one more guy they hadn't seen.

Bucky looks at this man curiously. He looks older. At least in his 70s, yet in very good shape. He's wearing brown pants, some kind of jacket with a fur lining and an animal face design on the front, and a tattoo on his exposed chest. A rifle is on his back, and a pistol at his waist. He's also holding a spear and a large fighting knife.

"Who's this?" Bucky asks.

"He is old friend. Name is Sergei Kravinoff," Anatoli says.

The newly introduced Sergei smiles and says in a deep voice, "But you can call me Kraven."

* * *

 **I'll end it there. I hope you liked this chapter. I decided to go ahead and stop Diggle from going psycho on the guy.**

 **Alright. It is official. Kraven the Hunter had joined the MACU. I don't really plan to go into his backstory, but it'll be fairly similar to his story from the comics, except his determination to hunt and kill Spider Man. I'm not sure though if he'll make another appearance after this story. At least, anytime soon. He may show up as a member of the Suicide Squad at some point, as requested by one of my readers, but that is still under debate. He'll make at least one more appearance before the MACU ends, but it won't be for a while. As for who I envision playing Kraven, I have chosen Sean Connery. I know he's old, and retired by now, but I think he's a good choice.**

 **Alright. I promise next chapter will end with the capture of Walker. For now, please review, and stay tuned.**


	11. Chapter 11- Hunting

**Alright. Back with the last chapter of chasing down General Walker. And our chance to see Kraven the Hunter in action.**

 **Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 11- Hunting

In a hangar in Moscow, General Walker smiles as he watches the doors to the van shut, having just sealed the deal with the Markovians. Their leader walks over to Walker, who smiles and says cheerfully, "Hey. Pleasure doing business with you, Lev." Walker and Lev shake hands.

"You sure you don't want to toast the transaction?" Lev asks.

"Ah, I'd love to, but I got a plane to catch, and there's someone I'm trying to avoid," Walker responds.

"American government?" Lev asks.

Walkers chuckles a bit before saying, "I wish it were just that."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, what looks like a mass of ropes shoots down from the ceiling, wrapping around some of Walker's men, and yanking them up towards the ceiling as the men cry out in surprise. Six more of Walker's men raise their assault rifles and start shooting up towards the ceiling. That is, until Kraven, from his position outside the hangar, drops two of the men with rifle shots.

After a second of this, Rory drops down from the ceiling, right before a small grenade goes off. With that, Diggle hurries into the hangar, firing his gun and taking out the men who were shooting.

Not wanting to get caught, the Markovians in the van hurriedly speed away. From the van, Felicity says, "Winter Soldier, Tango is headed your way."

In a small Jeep, driven by Laurel, Bucky watches the Markovians' van as they get close. One of the Markovians tries to shoot at the Jeep, but both Bucky and Laurel avoid getting hit. Bucky manages to pull out a pistol and shoots out the left side tires. The van rolls over and quickly crashes.

Bucky and Laurel hop out of the Jeep, as about half a dozen Markovians get out of the van. "You think you could beat us all with just the two of you?" Lev asks.

The sudden of cocking guns draws their attention. They look up to see Anatoli and his six men, all with assault rifles aimed at them. And right then, Bucky reveals his cybernetic arm. Reluctantly, the Markovians surrender.

Inside the hangar, the battle is still raging. Walker still has about a dozen men, who are all firing at Rory and Diggle. Rory is just trying his best to protect Diggle from the bullets.

Suddenly, two rifle shots kill two of Walker's men. The rest turn and see Kraven rushing at them, his spear and fighting knife in hand.

Walker's men don't even have enough time to react before Kraven is upon them. He drives his spear through the heart of one of the men, then slashes open the throat of another man with his fighting knife. A swipe of his spear cuts open a third man's entire front, as well as knocking three other men's guns out of their hands.

Knowing they can't really engage with assault rifles at this close range, they all engage with their fists, and the two still holding their assault rifles trying to use them as clubs.

In the meantime, Walker has been attempting to escape under the cover of the battle. But, with Kraven's attack against Walker's men, Diggle is now free to go after him. Diggle chases Walker over to a collection of oil drums and tackles his former general. Diggle slugs him in the face before pulling his gun on Walker and shouting, "Don't move, you SOB!"

Walker looks up at Diggle in confusion. "Who the h*** are you?" he asks. Diggle responds by pulling off his black mask, making General Walker throw his head back in slight exasperation.

"You didn't expect to see me here, did you, General?" Diggle spits out at Walker before continuing, "And nobody is gonna believe that I was, but everyone's gonna know that you tried to sell a nuclear bomb to terrorists."

"You're assuming I actually meant to sell the bomb to the Markovians, John. And I am surprised that a man like you would ever work with a man like Kraven the Hunter," Walker says mockingly. Diggle feels a bit confused, and worried, at that statement, as he can hear another death scream indicating that Kraven has gotten another kill. But he tries to shut that out of his mind.

Outside the hangar, Bucky races up to the van. Finding the crate holding the bomb, he rips the lid right off, only to discover that there's nothing in it.

"The bomb isn't with the Markovians!" Bucky says over comms.

"Walker was headed for the other hangar. Odds are that's where the nuke is," Felicity calls over comms as she gets out of the team's van and heads to the hangar in question.

In the first hangar, Diggle is still pointing his gun at Walker, trying to keep his thoughts away from Kraven, which has been made harder by two more death screams from Walker's men. Diggle looks Walker firmly in the eye and demands, "Why the ruse?"

Walker chuckles as he says, "Why sell a nuclear weapon once when I can steal it back and sell it to another rebel sucker?" Walker chuckles, making Diggle just want to pull the trigger even more.

In the other hangar, Felicity races in, only to find Rory has already found the bomb. Rory turns to look at her and says, "I had a feeling you'd need some help."

"Okay. You need to get out of here. The bomb is in countdown mode. We've got 10 minutes left," Felicity says urgently.

"What?" Rory asks in confusion.

"Walker must've installed a failsafe. And we must have triggered it when we entered the hangar," Felicity explains.

"Can you disarm it?" Rory asks in slight alarm.

"If I can't, the yield of this thing will spread over 50 miles," Felicity says. Rory looks down at the bomb, feeling very concerned.

Back in the first hangar, Diggle is still standing with his gun pointed at Walker, who is now looking tauntingly up at Diggle. "Do it. You know you want to. Come on, John. You have to. I got a lot of friends, John, with a lot of resources and itchy trigger fingers, and you…" But Walker is cut off when there's a flash of metal, a sickening thud, and he slumps over sideways, unconscious. Diggle looks up and sees Bucky standing there.

"Sorry. I'd had enough of him," Bucky says before walking off. Diggle looks down at Walker, the feelings of conflict still burning fierce, wondering whether or not he should've pulled the trigger, or if he still should.

As Bucky walks away from Diggle, he says Kraven cut down another man with a slash of his fighting knife. Kraven then dodges a punch from his last opponent and drives his spear right into the man's throat, killing him. The man falls to the ground, leaving Kraven standing in a pool of blood among 10 bodies.

Bucky looks at Kraven, feeling a little uncertain about this guy. Kraven senses Bucky behind him and turns to face him. Kraven smirks and says, "I haven't gotten exercise like that in a long time."

Bucky just looks at him, wondering if it was wise to accept Kraven's help.

Over in the second hangar, Rory and Felicity are arguing over what to do after Felicity's attempt to disarm the nuke only cut down the time they had. As they're arguing, a lightbulb suddenly goes off in Rory's head.

"Wait. Wait. Less populated. Like Havenrock. The rags…they survived Havenrock. They can survive this, too. I can use them to contain the blast and the radiation," Rory says.

"No! You don't know that!" Felicity exclaims.

"I don't need to know that. I…have…faith," Rory says before motioning her to leave and saying fiercely, "Just go! Get out of here, just in case this doesn't work. Felicity, go need to go!"

Finally, she listens and hurries out of the hangar as Rory puts his mask back on. He stands over the bomb, hesitating for a moment, then kneels down and lets the rags begin to envelop the bomb, chanting in Hebrew as he does.

Outside, Laurel and Bucky are running up to the hangar as Felicity is racing out. "What's going on?" Bucky demands.

Felicity turns towards them. But before they can do anything, the inside of the hangar lights up, and they can hear the sound of a blast. For a few agonizing seconds, they wait to be vaporized. But, after a few seconds, the light dies down. Felicity looks at the window of the hangar before racing back in, Bucky and Laurel following her.

As they race in, they see a pile of rags around where the bomb was. "Oh no! Rory!" Bucky shouts as the three race up to the pile.

Then, to their extreme relief, they see Rory, with his suit mostly intact, trying to get up. He looks up at the three of them and says in a tired voice, "I'm alright." He then looks at Bucky and says, "This means I get a promotion, right?" Bucky chuckles in response.

* * *

(The next morning, a bar)

"To Rory and his rags," Bucky toasts as Felicity, Laurel, Diggle, Anatoli, Rory, and Kraven, who was invited by Anatoli, look on. The group raises their glasses, then drinks. Felicity and Rory both cough a bit from how strong it is, while Diggle, Bucky and Laurel down their shots with no problem.

"Wimps," Diggle says.

"Yeah, come on, guys," Bucky says with a laugh.

Laurel smirks at them before adding, "Can't handle your liquor?"

Anatoli looks approvingly at Bucky and Laurel. "Now, you two my favorite Americans," he says with a smile.

Bucky smiles before turning to Diggle. "Did you hear from Lyla?"

"Walker is being escorted under military guard as we speak," Diggle says. He pauses before continuing, "Thank you, man. For keeping me under control. And honestly, thanks for knocking out Walker. I don't know how much longer I could've kept myself from shooting him. And I know that right now I'd be regretting it if I had. So thanks a lot, Bucky."

Bucky just nods. Then, Diggle, after glancing at Kraven, whispers, "We need to watch that friend of Anatoli's. Before you knocked him out, Walker said he was surprised a man like me would work with a guy like him. I don't know what Walker knew, but I doubt it's anything good."

Bucky nods to show he understands. Then, Anatoli comes over and brings Bucky over to the bar. "It was good to work with you, Mr. Barnes. Good to have made a new friend," he says, pouring a shot for Bucky and himself.

"Same to you, Anatoli," Bucky says before they down their shots. Bucky then looks over Anatoli's shoulders at Kraven and asks, quietly, "What's your friend's story? Kraven?"

Anatoli glances back over his shoulder. "He is avid hunter. Years ago, he took a formula to enhance his strength and reflexes. It also slowed down his aging a bit. And it made him a far deadlier hunter. He no longer just hunts animals, but people as well. Mainly criminals and rivals. With…occasional exceptions," Anatoli explains briefly.

Bucky looks at Kraven, a little uncomfortable. He wants to tell Anatoli what he thinks of the man, but decides against it.

* * *

(Two days later, Star City)

Bucky walks into a warehouse, having heard from the rest of the team that Rory was there.

"Hey, Rory. What's going on?" Bucky asks, right before he notices the packed bag. He then folds his arms as Rory looks at him and asks, "You're leaving?"

Rory hesitates for a moment before sighing and nodding. Bucky nods once before asking simply, "Why?"

Rory is quiet for a moment before he turns to the rags. He looks at them for a moment, then back at Bucky. "The blast did something to them. They don't work anymore, and I don't have any control. They don't offer any protection," Rory explains.

Bucky nods as he steps forward. "Well, I would say to hang around and see if it's just temporary, but I think you'd have a better idea of that than me. Still, I hate to see you go."

"I know. But without the rags, and Prometheus still on the loose, I'd just be a liability. I need to leave. One day, I'll be back, and hopefully by then maybe the rags will work again. But for now, I need to say goodbye," Rory says.

Bucky nods. "And I support your decision," he says, reaching out a hand. Rory smiles and takes it.

Rory picks up the rags, and his bag, and starts to walk out of the shed. But, before he gets beyond the entrance, he stops and turns back. "Hey, Bucky. I think you need to know something. Something's up with Felicity. I can't tell you exactly how, but she managed to get some information in Russia through some shady means. I think she crossed a line trying to find Walker. I just think you need to keep an eye on here," he says before turning and walking out.

Bucky stares after him, concerned. If Felicity is up to something, he doesn't want to imagine what it could be.

* * *

 **And, I'll end the chapter there.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter, and the Kraven action we saw here. Originally, I'd hoped for Kraven to have a bit of a bigger role, but it didn't work out like that. I will promise to use him again in the MACU, but I'm not sure when. Also, regardless of what Arrow does Rory, and if they bring him back like Rory said he would be, I will be bringing Rory back as Ragman at some point in the future.**

 **Well, for now, and until next time, please, please leave a review, and stay tuned!**


	12. Chapter 12- Escapees

**Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. Hope you enjoyed the last ones.**

 **Now, we're going to get into the events of episode 14. It'll go mostly the same, except for the ACU won't be pursuing the team, since Oliver is gone. The end of this part of the story, however, is gonna be different, and will be where this story really starts to depart from how the show went.**

 **Alright. Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 12- Escapees

Bucky stares out at the house across the street. They've been trying to find this place for a little while now.

"You sure this is the place?" he asks Diggle, who drove to the two of them to this place here in Opal City.

"Yeah. Felicity looked it up. This is the house that Justin Claybourne had built for his mistress. Do you think she'll play ball?" Diggle asks.

"Depends on whether or not she knows he's Prometheus. And her opinion of ARGUS," Bucky says, referencing the fact that he's going to be playing an ARGUS agent in this meeting. Bucky then hops out of the car, with Diggle following him.

The two walk up to the door, and Bucky knocks. A few moments later, a woman answers the door.

"Hello, maam. Are you Amanda Westfield?" Bucky asks.

"Yes," she responds hesitantly.

"Can I and my friend come in? We're with a federal agency called ARGUS, and we would like to ask you a few questions in regard to an investigation we're conducting," Bucky says. Ms. Westfield looks hesitant for a moment, then steps aside and lets the two in.

As they get into the living room, Bucky turns back to Ms. Westfield and says, "I don't want to waste too much of your time, so I'll just get straight to the point. We are part of a team currently investigating the case of the serial killer known as the Throwing Star Killer in Star City on orders of our director. In the course of our investigations, we uncovered some evidence that your son either is the Throwing Star Killer, or is connected to him. We came to ask you if you know anything about this, and if you have had any recent contact with your son."

Ms. Westfield's expression changes a bit. In an instant, Bucky catches that, and he quickly says, "I can guess from your expression right now that you know something. Are you willing to share?"

"I haven't seen my son since Justin Claybourne's funeral," Ms. Westfield says.

"Okay. I see. However, I asked if you had heard from him, not if you'd seen him," Bucky asks. Ms. Westfield looks at him harshly.

"We don't yet know your son's exact connection to the Throwing Star Killer yet, but we know he is connected. No matter his connection, your son has been involved in or been the direct cause of multiple deaths of innocent people, and at least two members of the Star City police department. We wish to know anything you know about what your son has been up to, so we can put a stop to these murders," Bucky says.

"What so, you can cage him up like an animal? Like the animal who killed his father?" she demands.

"So that we can stop innocent people from dying. You believe he is justified in killing completely innocent people because of a vendetta? And don't pretend you don't know anything. I can tell you do. If you do, you're lying to me to protect a criminal," Bucky says harshly.

Ms. Westfield glares back at him. "My son is doing what he needs to in order to survive. I will not have you destroying his life," she says angrily.

"You consider him keeping the life he currently has, and out of prison, more valuable than the lives of innocent people that have died?!" Bucky responds.

Ms. Westfield and Bucky stare each other down for several tense moments. Finally, Ms. Westfield says, "I'll think on it. For now, get out of my house."

Bucky keeps up his steely gaze, while pulling out a fake ARGUS business card and setting it on a table. "Call me if you have anything to tell me. But, if I find direct evidence you are directly aiding and abetting a criminal suspect, I can have you charged. Keep that in mind," he says before he and Diggle walk out of the house.

"That was harsh, man. Not that I'm saying you were wrong to be harsh to try and get information. I'm just impressed you were able to perform so flawlessly," Diggle says.

"I've had practice," Bucky says simply. He and Diggle don't say another word as they get in their car and start the drive back to Star City.

* * *

Bucky and Diggle walk back into the bunker. Rene hurries up and asks, "How'd it go with Mama Prometheus?"

"It didn't really go anywhere. It was clear she's hiding stuff, and definitely trying to protect him," Bucky says before he walks up to Felicity, holding up the sniffer device he and Diggle brought with them.

"What's that?" Rene asks.

"A sniffer device. It pulls data from any nearby devices," Felicity explains.

"Were you able to get anything?" Bucky asks her as she plugs the device into her computer.

Felicity types in a few commands. "Yeah. It actually worked a bit too well. I got so much data it's gonna take me a while to sort through it all," she says.

"In the meantime, we have something else to keep us distracted," Laurel says as she walks over to another computer, hitting a few keys and pulling up some photos as she says, "There was a jailbreak while you two were out."

"Hmm. Why do those faces look familiar?" Diggle asks rhetorically. Bucky looks down at the images of three women that, through his studies on Oliver's history as the Arrow and Green Arrow, he knows.

"How did these three get out?" Bucky asks.

"They were being transported by the Department of Corrections when Liza Warner led the revolt. They killed the two officers on the bus and took the bus for themselves. Last report states they're headed for Star City," Felicity responds.

"Alright. These three are a clear threat that we really don't need to have on our hands right now when we're still trying to find Prometheus. We need to find them and figure out why they're coming back here," Bucky says firmly.

* * *

(Hideout across the city)

Evelyn Sharp grunted as she was thrown to the ground yet again. Looking up, she sees Viper smiling triumphantly.

"Why do we need to keep doing this?" she demands.

"Because, you need to be better prepared for when you next confront Mr. Queen and the others," Viper responds as she pulls Evelyn back to her feet.

Footsteps draw their attention as Harkness walks into the room, his boomerangs shaking around a bit on the front of his uniform.

"Mr. Chase was right. Those three escaped and are headed back to Star City," Harkness says.

"Good," Viper says with a giggle.

"Who?" Evelyn asks.

"Our next opportunity," Viper replies.

* * *

(Big Belly Burger)

Bucky chuckles before taking a bite of his burger. Across the table, Laurel also takes a bite of her burger.

"So, are you thinking of, 'going back to the work at the DA's office?'" Bucky asks.

"Maybe. I mean, I was in law school before I got my powers, but I'm not sure about working at the DA's office. Still, people might get suspicious if Laurel Lance doesn't go back to work as an attorney after escaping HIVE," Laurel says.

"Well, don't worry. You're gonna be okay no matter what you chose to do," Bucky says.

Laurel nods in response. Bucky smiles reassuringly at her. He knows the next little while is gonna be hectic and uncertain, but after Prometheus is defeated, hopefully things can become a little more normal. At least as normal as possible, given the lives they lead.

* * *

 **I'll end there.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This whole arc with Werner's crew might take a few chapters. And yes, Prometheus' crew has an interest in the three of them.**

 **Also, I want you all to give your opinions on this question. Should I bring back the Defenders for the final battle? I know that I promised in Worlds Collide, Heroes Clash that as a group the Defenders would return in the sequel, though I have yet to truly make good on that. If they came back, I'd bring up a new ally for Prometheus to even the odds, but that is yet to be determined. So please, let me know.**

 **Until next time, please review, and stay tuned.**


	13. Chapter 13- A Chilling Revelation

**Back with another chapter.**

 **It took me a little longer than I expected to write this, since the ACU is not pursuing Bucky or any of the team, so I was trying to figure out exactly what to do with the plot for the rest of this episode's events.**

 **Hope you like this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 13- A Chilling Revelation

Bucky sighs as he types away at one of the computers in the lair. This situation with Warner, Cutter, and China White has been frustrating for him and the team. Particularly as it also interrupted their hunt for Vigilante, who had hit the Bertinelli crime family just a few days earlier, killing several of their highest members.

Suddenly, Felicity yells out, "I got 'em!"

Bucky is at her station in seconds. "Where?" he demands.

Felicity types a few more keys, and a map shows up, with a marker on it. "It's a warehouse used by the Triad. Looks like China White is looking back to her Triad roots," she says.

"Alright. I've got this," Bucky says as he hurries towards his uniform.

"Shouldn't I call the rest of the team?" Felicity asks.

"No, there's no time. I'll handle it," Bucky responds.

As he hurries toward his uniform, his phone rings. Looking down, he says it's Quentin. He picks it up and answers, "Hey, Lance. What's up?"

"Hey, Liza Warner, Carrier Cutter, and China White escaped from prison yesterday," Quentin says.

"Yes, I know. Felicity has already found them, and I'm on my way," Bucky responds.

"Text me where they are, and I'll meet you there," Quentin says firmly.

"Lance…" Bucky starts.

But Quentin cuts him off. "No, Bucky. This is personal. I put Warner away. I need to see her put away again. And you could use some backup. Let me help you out," he says.

Bucky hesitates for a moment. Then, he sighs and says, "Alright. I'll text you the address of the place, and I'll meet you there." He then hangs up, and again turns to face his uniform.

* * *

(Warehouse)

Bucky slowly walks into the warehouse, holding his M4 carbine at the ready. Quentin is right behind him, holding his pistol at the ready.

As they enter what looks like a dining room, they lower their weapons at the sight of multiple bodies lying in pools of blood on the floor. Quentin looks around and says, "Well, looks like we're a little late."

Bucky looks around again at the bodies before saying, "Well, I think it's safe to say that China White doesn't care about the Triad anymore." He then activates his comms and says, "Overwatch. Cutter and the others aren't here. The only people here are Triad, and they're all dead. Well, that, and a security camera," noticing said camera as he finished his sentence.

"On it," Felicity says from her station. Bucky looks down at a special device on his wrist that allows him to see photos or videos sent to him by Felicity, and he and Quentin see three women massacring the Triad members. Felicity pauses the video for them and zooms in on one of the women.

"Yup. That's Warner," Quentin says. Bucky nods in agreement.

"This isn't on you Quentin," he says in a low voice.

"Not sure about that, but either way, we got to stop whatever it is these women are up to before more bodies drop," Quentin replies.

* * *

(The lair)

Bucky, Felicity, Diggle, Laurel, and Lance watch the video screen as a video from the security camera shows China White interrogates a Triad member whose throat she's holding her knife too. The man doesn't answer immediately, so she slits his throat. Moments later, Cutter fires an arrow at the security camera.

Bucky, who understands enough Chinese to know what she said, says, "White asked him, 'Where is the depository?' Depository meaning storage. The question is what kind of storage these three could be after?"

"Well, they killed a lot of people in their pursuit of it, so it can't be good," Laurel says.

"Agreed. I think if we're gonna stop them, we have to find it first. We need to try and find a Triad member who may know," he says.

* * *

(Another Triad warehouse)

Rene and Curtis wait, with Rene trying to remain calm. Soon, their target exits the warehouse, walking out to his car.

"There he is," Rene mutters, and the two hurry out of their hiding place. As the man is trying to open his car door, he says the two approaching him. He reaches for his gun, but Rene kicks the door into him, making him fall to the ground. Curtis runs up, grabs him by his jacket, and slams him against the car.

"James Wong!" Curtis says angrily. "We want to have a little chat about your dead triad friends," Rene finishes.

"I didn't have anything to do with that," Wong says in an "I-don't-have-time-for-this" tone.

"We know, but what we want to know is what is the chucang," Curtis demands.

"What?" Wong asks in a confused tone that doesn't really fool them.

"The depository, the storage, whatever it is," Rene elaborates.

Wong hesitates for a few moments, then sighs and says, "Tobias Church."

"Is dead," Rene says as if Wong is missing the obvious.

"Yeah, and he never got to spend the hundred million he got from the Amertek deal. That's the depository," Wong replies.

"Where is it?" Curtis demands.

Rene waits for a moment before looking at Curtis and asking, "Do we believe him?"

Curtis looks at Rene, then back at Wong before slowly nodding and releasing him. Wong only gets a moment before Rene punches him in the side of the head and knocks him out.

* * *

(Across town, an hour later)

Bucky and Quentin slowly walk into the building. Quentin asks Bucky, "So, what is this place again?"

"It's the Los Halcones money laundering facility. It's likely that Warner and her new friends are after $100 million that Tobias Church left behind when he died," Bucky responds.

"And you think that Church's old running buddies might know where it is," Quentin states.

Bucky nods before saying, "Yeah. Wild Dog and Mr. Terrific are staking out the Bertinellis, and keeping an eye out for Vigilante while they're at it. And, Siren and Spartan have eyes on the Bratva."

Quentin nods before asking, "You really think Warner and the others will show up here?" No sooner are the words out of his mouth than they hear gunfire. The two look at each other and Bucky says, "Yeah, I think so." They then hurry towards the sound of the fighting.

By the time Bucky reaches the room where he heard the fighting, everyone but Warner, Cutter, and White are dead. He catches Warner saying, "Everything is going according to plan."

Bucky fires off a warning shot with his pistol before he bellows, "Think again!" Warner, Cutter, and White turn to get their first look at the Winter Soldier, who is now aiming his M4 at them.

Next to him, Quentin shouts, "You're under arrest. Get on the floor with your hands behind your head!" "On the ground!" Bucky adds.

"I'm good. Besides, I owe this SOB some payback," Warner replies. She aims a gun at Quentin, but Bucky fires off several rounds, which slice across the side of her arm. Warner turns to run, firing behind her to cover her escape. Quentin hurries out of the way and ducks out of the room to move around and cut her off.

Bucky leaps down to the floor, quickly popping up and replacing his M4 with two fighting knives as Cutter and White rush at him. He blocks White's first strikes with his own knife, then ducks under a kick from Cutter before sweeping White's legs out from under her.

Cutter throws several punches. Bucky blocks them all, then ducks under her when she throws a particularly hard one, causing her to somersault over him. He pops back up, grabs White by the throat using his cybernetic. He looks at her, eyes hidden behind his goggles, and says, "Try as you might, you'll never win. Even if you could beat me, more people will just keep coming for you. As my trainers said, if you cut off one head, two more will take its place." He doesn't feel quite right saying that, but wants to try and make her realize that she can't win.

White looks confused. "Wait. You can't be HYDRA," she says.

Bucky freezes, shocked. So shocked he doesn't hear Cutter coming up until she tackles him, forcing him to let go of White. He gets his legs under her and kicks her off of him, then fires an extension cable up and swings out of the room. Cutter and White watch him go, and have to run themselves as the ACU enters the room.

* * *

(The lair)

"Well, they got away, but we've still got some leads we can work. We'll find them," Diggle says. The whole team nods in agreement, but notices that Bucky is sitting down, looking off into the distance.

"Bucky?" Laurel asks, trying to draw his attention. After a moment, he looks up and at the rest of the team.

"Hey, what's up man?" Diggle asks.

"When I was fighting China White, I used the only motto of HYDRA, the organization that brainwashed me back on Earth-99. And White recognized it. She said 'You can't be HYDRA'," Bucky explains.

Everyone looks stunned. "Wait, so you're saying that White has been to Earth-99?" Rene asks.

"I don't know. So far as we know, the only people on this Earth who know about Earth-99 are the people in this room, the people on Team Flash, and the Legends. I think that the more likely scenario is that this Earth has its own HYDRA, and White knows about them," Bucky says.

Everyone is quiet. Finally, Curtis speaks up and asks, "Do you think Prometheus could be possibly be related to HYDRA?"

"I doubt it. He was working alone to begin with. And if he was HYDRA, he probably wouldn't be. I feel sure he's not part of HYDRA. But the fact that HYDRA even exists on this Earth is concerning to me," Bucky says.

Everyone is quiet for a few more moments. Finally, Diggle says, "Well, I can say this is definitely something to look into in the future. But for now, Warner's crew, and Prometheus, are our main priorities. We can focus on HYDRA later."

Bucky nods. But his mind is still focused on HYDRA. _Are they really out there, and what do they want?_ he thinks to himself.

* * *

 **Alright, I'll end there.**

 **The little moment with China White may have been a bit awkward and forced in terms of revealing HYDRA, but I wanted to do that in the events of this episode. So yes, HYDRA does exist in this world. They won't play too much of a role in this story, but they will appear in the future. Specifically, the story in which Taskmaster will return and make his true debut.**

 **Also, regarding the several mentions of Vigilante. I do have plans for him to make an appearance in this story, but since I didn't show that incident from episode 13 where he killed the one guy Oliver was interrogating, I decided to throw in those name drops I did.**

 **Also, please let me know how you'd like to see the team learn that Chase is Prometheus. In the show, we only see Oliver knowing about Talia until later on. So, I'm not entirely sure how to have the team found out Chase is Prometheus. But, I want it to happen soon, so give me your suggestions.**

 **Anyway, hope you liked this chapter, please give me your feedback, and stay tuned!**


	14. Chapter 14- An Uprising Ends

**Hey, everybody. Today is my 21st birthday, so I decided to celebrate by posting another chapter.**

 **This is gonna end the little arc of Warner's uprising, and set up some future developments for the final battle.**

 **Also, I have slightly revised my chapter plan. I'm gonna be including more from the rest of the show than I originally planned.**

 **Enough of that for now. Let's get to the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 14- An Uprising Ends

Bucky sits in his favorite armchair in his apartment, thinking back over the events of the last few hours, and particularly the revelation that HYDRA also exists on this Earth. This totally changes the game, but also makes him a little glad he came here in the first place. If there's anyone who's gonna be able to put an end to HYDRA, no matter what Earth, it's gonna be either him or Steve. Nobody knows them better.

There's a knock on his door. Bucky stands up and walks over. Looking through the peephole, he sees that it's Laurel.

Bucky opens the door and looks at her for a moment. "What are you doing here?" he asks.

"I figured you needed a friend to talk to right now," Laurel says. She waits for a moment, then asks, "Can I come in?"

Bucky steps aside and motions for her to come in. She slowly walks in and looks around. "Nice. You're a decent decorator," she says.

"Yeah, considering I haven't spent much time trying to decorate this place," Bucky says nonchalantly before sitting down.

Laurel takes a seat in the chair next to his and just looks at him for a few moments. "So, what's on your mind?" she asks.

Bucky is quiet for a few moments, then says, "When I came to this Earth, I thought I would never have to deal with HYDRA again. Even if it wasn't the same HYDRA that took me and made me their mindless assassin. Now, with what White said, and knowing that there's a HYDRA here on this Earth too…I just don't know if I'll ever be able to fully put that part of my past away for good."

Laurel nods. "I felt that same way when Allen first let me out back during that incident with Grodd. But, the key is to just take it bit by bit. And once Prometheus is down for good, then we can work on handling HYDRA," she says.

Bucky nods. "Yeah. I just hope that one day I'll have a life completely free of HYDRA's influence," he says.

Laurel nods. Right then, Bucky's phone rings. He picks it up, sees it Felicity, and answers with, "Hey, Felicity. What is it?"

"Warner and the others just hit the Bertinellis. And they took one of the guys. Enzo Russo. I'm guessing that he knows where Church hid his money," she responds.

Bucky says, "Okay, gotcha. Me and Laurel are on our way back to the lair. We'll see you soon," he says.

Bucky hangs up and looks at Laurel. Laurel nods to show she knows the situation. The two of them stand up and walk out of the apartment.

* * *

(Oak Hill Memorial)

"Thanks for letting me be here," Quentin says to Bucky as the two enter the Oak Hill Memorial cemetery.

"Of course," Bucky says to Quentin. He then activates his comms and says, "Alpha Team in position."

"Beta Team in position," Curtis says as he and Rene get into position.

"I'm on site," Diggle calls over comms.

"Ready," Laurel responds.

Inside a center memorial, Cutter, White, and Warner walk past several tombs. Warner comes to a stop by the last one, and she smacks it a bit. "It's this one," she declares.

"How do you know?" White asks.

"Because it has the least amount of dust on it. Help me move it," Warner says. Together, the three women manage to slid the top off the tomb, revealing multiple duffel bags. Cutter leans down and unzips one of them, revealing it to be stuffed full of cash.

White and Warner laugh as Carrie lifts up at bundle of cash and says, "We have got the money, honey."

"Grab whatever you can carry. We'll come back for the rest later," Warner says.

The three women grab several duffel bags and start walking out of the memorial. That is, until a powerful shockwave knocks them down as a loud scream splits the air. Behind them, atop the memorial, Laurel grins, her new batons in her hands.

Warner, White, and Cutter all stand up, and look around to see all of Team Arrow gathered around them, all ready to fight. Cutter turns to try and escape, but a bullet from Diggle across her path stops her short.

"You did all this for money? So what, you could go to the Caymans?" Quentin demands.

"You think this is about taking a vacation? We're taking over. We're taking back this city!" Warner declares.

"Yeah, you and what army?" demands Diggle.

"This one!" Warner replies as multiple SUVs drive up and mercenaries pour out of them.

"Amazing the loyalty that money can buy!" Warner declares before looking at the men and shouting, "Kill them all!"

The mercenaries open fire, and the team takes cover. Laurel jumps down and moves to engage Warner while Curtis engages Cutter. Quentin, Diggle, and Rene try and fight back against the mercenaries, while Bucky rushes to engage White, gunning down some of the mercenaries as he goes.

Bucky ducks under White's first blow. The two begin throwing punches and kicks in a flurry, while also trying to slash at each other with their knives.

As Bucky and White are fighting, Laurel manages to knock Warner back. Glancing around, she sees Cutter knock Curtis to the ground. She unleashes a brief scream, knocking Cutter back, and giving Curtis the chance to get back to his feet. He nods once before turning to re-engage Cutter. Laurel smiles, then blocks a blow from Warner and returns to fighting the former cop.

As she does, Bucky jumps up, scissors White, and throws her to the ground. She leaps back up and slashes at Bucky. He blocks it with cybernetic arm and punches her in the chest, knocking her flying back.

She manages to get back to her feet as Bucky begins to hear sirens over the sounds of combat. White looks at him as she holds her knife at the ready. "I may not be able to stop two heads from growing back as you say. But at least as I can cut off your head," she says venomously. She then starts to rush at him, right before a gunshot rings out and she drops to the ground.

Bucky feels a little surprised. The identity of the shooter is apparent when Captain Pike runs up behind White. He glances at Bucky for a moment before shouting, "Move on the targets!"

Officers of the SCPD and ACU race on the scene. The remaining mercenaries, as well as Cutter and Warner, quickly surrender, recognizing they're well outnumbered.

The team quickly starts to disperse. Before he leaves, Bucky walks up to Captain Pike. Pike looks a little hesitant, but doesn't make any moves towards him.

"Good to meet you at last, Winter Soldier. I had a feeling we'd meet before long," Pike says.

"Thank you for assistance, Captain. I'm glad to know I can count on the SCPD," Bucky responds.

Pike nods, then asks, "Have you found any new leads on Prometheus?"

"Me and my team are working on it. I do know he has some new allies. Especially keep an eye out for a woman in green. Calls herself Viper. You see her, you shoot to kill," Bucky says before he turns and leaves.

Pike nods slowly as Bucky walks away. He then turns around and faces one of his men. "We need to add a new player to our Prometheus case," he says.

* * *

(The lair)

Bucky smiles as he sets his weapons down. "We did it," he says triumphantly.

Laurel walks up beside him, grinning. "Told you we could. Now with them out of the way, we can focus on Prometheus," she says.

Bucky nods, then asks, "How do you think Quentin is doing? What with us taking down Warner?"

Laurel looks a little concerned. "He was a little shaken by her at first, but I think he's gotten over it. He told me he had a talk with her. And he doesn't care how justified she is after what he did. He said he knows he's a changed man, and that's what matters to him," she says.

Bucky nods, then smiles. "Well, to celebrate, why don't we go grab some Big Belly Burger?" he asks.

Laurel grins. "Sounds like a plan," she says, and the two head to go grab some Big Belly Burger.

* * *

(Highway on the edge of Star City)

Warner fumes as she, Cutter, and White are sitting on the bus driving them to Iron Heights, feeling furious that Quentin Lance busted her plans again.

"This isn't over. Quentin Lance thinks he got me. He ain't seen the last of me," she says under her breath.

White doesn't really pay attention, while Cutter looks at her as if to show she's a little hesitant to think about escaping again.

Suddenly, there's the sound of an automatic weapon firing outside. Bullets pierce the windscreen, and the driver loses control, causing the bus to crash and tip over.

Inside, the remaining guard, Warner, White, and Cutter are a little dazed. Warner busts out an emergency exit on the top of the bus, and scrambles out. White and Cutter follow her.

Warner tries to shake herself out of her daze. Suddenly, she hears, "Liza Warner!"

She looks up. The last thing she sees is an orange visor before there's a gunshot, and Warner collapses with a bullet through her heart.

White and Cutter look up in alarm. And see Vigilante standing in front of them, holding up his gun.

"You may have gotten away with mercy from the Winter Soldier. But don't expect that mercy from me," Vigilante says.

"Drop your gun!" the remaining guard shouts as he gets out of the bus. Vigilante shifts his gun and fires, killing the guard. He then turns his attention back to White and Cutter, aiming his pistol right at Cutter.

"Star City is gonna thank me for getting rid of the three of you," Vigilante says fiercely. Then, before he can pull the trigger, there's a whistling sound, and something slices across Vigilnate's hand, forcing him to drop his gun.

Vigilante, Cutter, and White turn in the direction the object came from, and see Digger Harkness rushing towards them, grabbing his boomerang out of the air as it comes back to him. Vigilante is able to draw his knife before Harkness reaches him.

With a slight growl, Harkness attacks Vigilante. Vigilante fights back, but the two are about evenly matched.

Cutter and White both watch the fight going on before them with interest. Suddenly, they hear a woman say, "Hello, ladies."

Cutter and White both turn to the sound of the voice, and see Viper standing there. She smiles and says, "How'd you like to get out of here and be free? On one condition of course."

"What?" White asks suspiciously.

"Help us take down the Winter Soldier," she says with a smirk. White and Cutter look at each other and nod. Viper steps forward and unlocks their chains.

"Let's go Harkness! Drake is waiting for us!" Viper says. Viper, Cutter, and White start running, while Harkness throws down a boomerang, which explodes and throws Vigilante back.

By the time Vigilante gets back to his feet, Harkness, Viper, Cutter, and White are gone. He stands there, staring out over the scene. They may have escaped, but they won't stay out of his reach forever.

* * *

 **And, that's it.**

 **I hope you don't mind I killed Warner. I intended to have Vigilante show up, as I honestly think Warner and her crew would be important enough to draw his attention, and I wanted him to have a casualty to draw both the team's attention, and later, Prometheus'. Plus, Warner hasn't shown up since this episode in the show, so I figured she was the best candidate.**

 **So, Cutter and White have joined Prometheus. We will see them for the final battle. And, this will not be the last time we see Vigilante in this story. Most likely, it will be him being involved in the team finding out Prometheus' identity.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Also, I will say this again. Please tell me how you'd like to see Bucky and the team discover Prometheus' identity.**

 **Until next time, review, and stay tuned!**


	15. Chapter 15- A Whole Lot Worse

**Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. Sorry it took so long to get this up. I've been busy with college.**

 **This chapter will be where this story departs from the storyline of the show, and it won't return to the storyline of the show until the end.**

 **Let's get to it. Also, things won't be as bad in this chapter as you may think from the title, but things are going to get a bit more difficult for our heroes.**

* * *

Chapter 15- A Whole Lot Worse

Bucky smiles as he takes a bite of his food. He looks across at Laurel, who is smiling broadly at him.

"Thank you so much for coming to dinner with me, Laurel," Bucky says.

"Of course, Bucky. I haven't gotten to go out like this in a long time, And, this a great way to celebrate our win," Laurel replies with a smile.

Bucky chuckles as Laurel takes a drink. Then, he asks, "So have you thought about going to work at the DA's office?"

"I have thought about it. And...I think I will. I just...well, I need to study up a bit on law before going back. Plus...I can't just leave the rest of you to take on Prometheus without me. I need to help you guys take him down," she says.

"Oliver found time to be both the Green Arrow and the mayor. I'm sure you could help us as both Black Siren and the District Attorney," Bucky says. He pauses for a second, before saying, "Well, Assistant District Attorney, I guess, since Chase is the DA." Laurel chuckles a bit.

"You're right. But, with everything going on, I think I should focus on Prometheus before I try and be a lawyer," Laurel responds. Bucky nods with understanding.

There's a few moments before Laurel starts to speak up again. But, before she can even get a word out, Bucky's phone rings. He reaches down, sees that it's Felicity, and answers it.

"What's up, Felicity? I'm out with Laurel right now," Bucky answers.

"We've got a problem. We need the two of you at the lair as soon as possible," Felicity responds.

"Alright. We'll be there as soon as possible," Bucky says before hanging up.

He looks at Laurel for a moment, and she asks, "Felicity called and wants us at bunker, I'm assuming?"

"Yup. Sorry to have to cut this short," Bucky says. Laurel just nods as Bucky goes to grab a bag for their leftovers.

* * *

(The bunker)

"Sorry we're late," Bucky says as he and Laurel walk into the lair.

"What took you so long?" Diggle asks.

"It took us a while to get through traffic," Bucky says, waving away Diggle's question. He then looks at Felicity and asks, "Well, what did you call us all here for?"

Felicity types a few keys, and pulls up a picture of a wrecked prisoner transfer bus.

"Police found this a few hours ago. Its was the bus being used to transport Warner, Cutter, and White. Police found it overturned, and the front riddled with bullet holes. Not only that, they found Warner, the guard, and the driver dead at the scene, and no sign of Cutter and White," Felicity explains.

"So, someone attacked the bus, killed the driver and guard, and then killed Warner? Why? And who?" Bucky asks.

"I managed to hack into the police database and get access to what information they have so far. Apparently, the rounds fired at the bus were from a FN SCAR 16, and the guard and Warner were both killed with a Glock 17," Felicity says.

"And we know one person who likes to use both those weapons," Curtis says with a touch of sarcasm.

"It's Vigilante. He showed himself again," Diggle says.

Bucky's face grows serious. "Vigilante. I should've expected he'd come after them," he says.

"I got something more," Felicity says, drawing everybody's attention. She types in a few commands as she says, "The guard that Vigilante killed had a body cam. It captured footage of everything that happened."

Everyone watches the screen as the video plays. They watch, from the cop's perspective as Vigilante shoots Warner. They watch as the guard hurries out of the bus, and is gunned down by Vigilante. Then, as Vigilante prepares to shoot Cutter and White, they see a boomerang cut across Vigilante's hand. Then, they see Harkness run into view and engage Vigilante.

"Harkness?!" Diggle asks in shock as Felicity pauses the video.

"Who's Harkness?" Bucky and Rene ask at the same time.

"He's a former ASIS agent who's about as good with boomerangs as Oliver is with a bow. Because of that, he's known as Captain Boomerang. He went rogue from ASIS, but Lyla's old boss caught him and forced him into her Suicide Squad. He broke free of their control, and tried to kill Lyla. It took Oliver and the Flash working together to stop Harkness. He was imprisoned on Lian Yu, in the same prison as Slade Wilson," Diggle explains. He then looks alarmed and looks at Felicity. "Did Slade get out too?" he asks.

"No, he didn't. I hacked ARGUS and found their report on the breakout. It confirms that Harkness was broken out of prison, but whoever broke him out knocked out Slade before they did so. He's still in his cell," Felicity responds. Diggle breathes a sigh of relief.

"Wait, so he didn't break out on his own? Does ARGUS know who broke him out?' Bucky asks, even though they're all certain that Prometheus was behind it.

Felicity just resumes the video. Everybody watches as Harkness and Vigilante are fighting tooth and nail as Cutter and White watch. Then, Viper walks into view. Soon after, she leaves with the other two women, and Harkness throws down his exploding boomerang to distract Vigilante.

"Who was that lady?" Rene asks.

"Viper," Bucky responds in a flat tone.

"That crazy green haired lady who attacked you that one night?" Curtis asks, to which Bucky just nods.

"According to the ARGUS report, she's the one who broke Harkness out," Felicity says.

Bucky sighs. "So, Viper broke Harkness out of prison, then used him to help her free Cutter and White. I'm guessing Warner was on that list too, but I'm also guessing they didn't count on VIgilante getting involved," he says.

He thinks for a moment. Then, he says, "I think that Viper is a bigger part of Prometheus' plan than we originally thought. I think we need to try and put more effort into trying to find Viper. Felicity, I want you to use the footage of her from that video to try and find her. And try and find any place she and her followers may be using as a base."

"On it," Felicity says, already typing away.

"Diggle, I want you to go to your wife and let her know what we now know. I want ARGUS' help looking for Viper. The rest of you, I want you training. This is gonna be far harder than we first thought," Bucky says before he and Laurel head over to the staircase to the lower floor so they can finish their dinner.

"Where are you two going?" Curtis asks.

"Well, since our dinner got interrupted by that call, we're gonna go finish our food," Bucky says as if it's obvious.

"Wait, your dinner? As in you were out at dinner together?" Diggle asks with a knowing smirk.

"Yeah," Bucky responds apprehensively.

"Sounds like you two were on a date," Rene says.

"No. We were just enjoying dinner to celebrate beating Warner and her crew, and just to unwind and relax," Laurel says defensively before she and Bucky turn and walk out.

"They were totally on a date," Rene says matter-of-factly.

"Yup," Diggle adds, grinning.

* * *

(A hour later)

Bucky ducks under a blow from Laurel, throwing a punch of his own, which she blocks. "You're getting better," Bucky says as he throws another punch, which she just manages to dodge.

"Well, I have a good teacher," she says as she kicks at his head, but he blocks her and throws her aside.

The two face off and are about to lunge for each other again when Felicity's voice comes over the intercom. "Guys, come back up here. I found Viper," she says.

Bucky and Laurel just look at each other for a moment before they hurry up the stairs.

"What do you got?" Bucky asks as they get up to the computer station.

"I managed to spot Viper on a traffic cam. She was going into a warehouse on the edge of town. The photo was taken about 15 minutes ago," Felicity says.

"Alright. Laurel, I want you to stay here with Curtis. Diggle, Rene, you're with me," Bucky says.

"Why am I staying behind?" Laurel asks.

"I want you to stay here in case Vigilante or Prometheus pops up. Plus, just in case this is a trap, I want you and Curtis on standby," he says. Laurel doesn't look happy, but doesn't argue.

"Let's go. Suit up," Bucky orders as he heads towards her suit.

* * *

(Warehouse)

Bucky slowly moves between the trees surrounding the target warehouse, with Diggle and Rene following him closely.

"You guys, do not underestimate Viper. She is good, and she's gonna have friends with her. This ain't gonna be easy," Bucky says in a low voice.

Suddenly, a loud noise comes from around the side of the warehouse. Bucky freezes for a moment, then says, "Move!"

Bucky, Diggle, and Rene all sprint around the corner of the building, just in time to catch Viper walking out of one of the doors with two guards. With two quick shots from Diggle and Rene, the guards collapse.

Viper smirks as she turns to face Bucky. "Well, Mr. Barnes. Good to see you again," she says.

Bucky stops short, then takes a few slow steps towards her. "How do you know who I am?" he demands.

Viper laughs. "My new friend Prometheus has extensive resources, and he's very smart. Plus, it would seem that HYDRA's greatest assassin didn't die like I thought he did. I thought my old bosses didn't keep secrets like this from me," she says.

Bucky feels stunned. It takes him a moment to recover from this shock, then he demands, "You worked for HYDRA?"

"The name Viper wasn't a hint?" she says with a chuckle.

Bucky feels very disconcerted, Finally, he says. "Very well. Then I'll wipe out what remains of HYDRA by taking you and your men down." And with that, he rushes her.

Viper grins before running to meet him. The two clash and start exchanging blows at near superhuman speed.

At that moment, ten more of Viper's men race out of the warehouse. They raise their guns and aim right at Diggle and Rene. Rene dives behind some barrels, and Diggle jumps behind a tree as the men open fire.

Bucky and Viper's duel carries them away from Diggle, Rene, and Viper's men as they all exchange fire. After a few moments, Bucky blocks a blow from her, and they stand there for a moment. And after a moment, Bucky growls at her, "Why are you working for Prometheus?"

Viper smiles. "Because. I have a history with Oliver Queen. Plus...I enjoy causing chaos," she says.

Bucky ducks under her arm and aims a kick at her stomach, which she dodges with a back hand spring. She pulls out a gun and fires several rounds, but Bucky blocks them with his cybernetic arm. He then lunges right at her and grabs her by the arm, flipping her onto her back and pinning her to the ground.

"Who is he under that mask?" Bucky demands. Viper responds by scissoring him and using her legs to throw him off of her. She pops back up on her feet, grins, and says, "Wouldn't you like to know?" before lunging back right at Bucky.

The two continue fighting until Bucky manages to get under her guard and knock her to the ground. Her grabs her by the throat with his cybernetic arm, ready to choke the life out of her.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting scream splits the air, and a shock wave throws Bucky back. At the same time, the few remaining guards throw down smoke grenades.

Bucky looks up from his spot on the ground, and catches a brief glimpse of a woman dressed in black running off along with Viper. At the same time, the rest of Viper's men race away under the cover of the smoke.

Bucky sits up and looks in the direction Viper disappeared. He sighs as he sees she is gone.

"Well. This just got a whole lot worse," Bucky says.

* * *

 **I'll end there.**

 **I already confirmed that HYDRA exists on this Earth during the first fight against Warner's crew back in CHapter 13,, and yes, I have now confirmed Viper is a member. Or, was. You'll get the history of her involvement with HYDRA, and with Oliver, later on. And yes, there was also a Winter Soldier on this Earth. I will confirm he was Bucky's doppelganger, and he is also dead. So, we will not be seeing him. Also, yes, that was Dinah who helped them escape.**

 **Also, yes, I know that Diggle and Rene's teasing is basically the same Rene and Curtis gave Oliver when he first went out with Susan Williams. I found the way they did it funny, and figured I'd reuse it.**

 **Now, we are about to get into the exciting part of this story. Next chapter will feature Bucky and the team finding out about Chase's identity as Prometheus. I'm still open to ideas about how to do it, so please give me your ideas. Vigilante will likely be involved somehow, but not guaranteed yet.**

 **Alright. Until next time, please review, and stay tuned!**


	16. Chapter 16- His Name is Adrian Chase

**Alright, let's get going with this next chapter.**

 **Finally, the team is going to find out Prometheus' identity. And things are going to be different to how they react to this compared to the show.**

 **Also, I have officially planned out my chapter plan for this story. This story will be 25 chapters long. So, we are ⅔ of the way through.**

 **Let's get to it. And no, the chapter title is not meant to insinuate Talia will be involved. She will not be appearing in this story at all, except for maybe one or two future name drops by Adrian later on.**

* * *

Chapter 16- His Name is Adrian Chase

"So, wait, Viper works for HYDRA?" Felicity asks.

"Yeah. And apparently, she didn't just know my name because of Prometheus investigating us. There was a Winter Soldier on this Earth, who I'm guessing worked for HYDRA too, and he must have been my doppelganger. She seemed to think I was him. Not sure if she still does after our 'discussion'," Bucky responds.

"So, are we thinking of reconsidering your judgement on the idea that Prometheus might be working for HYDRA?" Curtis asks.

"Not yet," Bucky says before pausing for a moment. Then, he says, "The way that Viper was talking...it didn't seem like a member of HYDRA. She clearly was a member at one point, but...I don't know, something about what she said about her motives for working with Prometheus makes me think that maybe she's acting on her own. I think she may well have backup from HYDRA. That's probably where all her men come from. But, they also weren't wearing anything that had any markings resembling anything related to HYDRA. Something else is going on here."

Bucky pauses again, then says, "In any case, HYDRA itself is not our worry right now. Whatever Viper's connection to them is, I think it's safe to bet that most of HYDRA is not at all involved in Prometheus' crusade here. Prometheus is the focus. Once we take down him, we can look into Viper's connection with HYDRA. But that has to be on the backburner for now."

He stands up, more confident, and says, "And we have someone else to worry about. Someone attacked me when I had Viper by the throat. A woman in black. And she had a cry like yours," looking to Laurel as he finishes.

"Really?" Laurel asks. Bucky just nods.

"Great. They have their own Black Siren. As if things weren't bad enough already," Curtis says in exasperation.

"Yes," Felicity says. Everyone turns to look at her.

"Why do you not seem surprised?" Laurel asks suspiciously.

"Well, during my searches for Prometheus, I came across a few scattered reports of a woman possessing a scream like yours. And then, I found a video of a woman in black with Viper, using that scream," Felicity says.

"When?" Bucky demands, feeling upset she didn't tell him.

"After your fight with Viper earlier," she says. Everyone looks at her in surprise.

"What?" Laurel finally asks in shock.

"I was looking to track them after they fled. And I got lucky. I was able to track them using traffic cams and recon satellites. But...we weren't the only vigilantes tracking them," Felicity says, putting emphasis on the word vigilantes.

Bucky says, before stating, "Vigilante went after them."

"Yup. He did. And he killed Viper's men who were still with her, but that lady in black drove him off with her scream. I wasn't able to get a good look at her face, but I could tell the attacker was Vigilante," Felicity responds.

Bucky is quiet for a moment. Then, a smile starts to break out on his face. "This could be an opportunity," he says. He then looks at Felicity and asks, "Do you still have a handle on Vigilante? Do you know where he is?"

"Not at the moment, but I can find him. Why?" she asks.

"Think about the last two times Vigilante has showed up. He attacked the bus and killed Warner before Harkness drove him off. Then, he attacked Viper, the other woman, and Viper's men. What are the two connections there?" he asks.

Laurel smiles, catching on. "He targeted Cutter, White, and Warner when Prometheus wanted to recruit them. And then he targeted more of Prometheus' followers," she says.

Bucky nods. "Exactly. He's gotten in Prometheus' way twice in a very short space of time. If Prometheus is all I've heard he is, he isn't going to let Vigilante keep roaming the streets. He's gonna try and put him down now before he can interfere anymore. Now, if we can find and follow Vigilante…"

"It may help us find Prometheus," Laurel finishes.

Bucky nods, then says, "I'll go alone when we find Vigilante. I need the rest of you trying to find Viper and the rest of Prometheus' followers." Everyone looks ready to protest, but the look on Bucky's face shows that now is not the time to argue.

Then, there's a beeping, and Felicity turns to face her computer. A second later, she cries, "Got him! A satellite photo got a picture of him on the roof of a building about two blocks north of the Palmer Tech building!"

Bucky turns and heads to grab his weapons again, eager to find Prometheus again, and to find out who he is.

* * *

(Downtown)

Vigilante slowly walks across the roof of a building in downtown Star City, his assault rifle clutched tightly in his hands, considering his next move and target. Suddenly, he hears a whistling, and he reaches up just in time to catch a shuriken flying right at him. Vigilante whips his head around, and sees Prometheus standing on a ledge above him.

"You've crossed me too many times. You've earned yourself a death sentence," Prometheus says.

"Not if I kill you first," Vigilante responds before raising his assault rifle and opening fire at Prometheus. Prometheus turns and runs to avoid it, leaping down onto the lower half of the roof, ducking behind a skylight.

Vigilante walks forward toward the spot, only for a shuriken to fly over to him and hit him in the shoulder. Vigilante grunts in pain and whips around, assault rifle at the ready. He scans the roof, and finally spots Prometheus as the man is racing right at him, just a few feet away.

Prometheus tries to grab Vigilante's assault rifle and force it down, but Vigilante yanks it back and swings it around to strike Prometheus. Prometheus blocks it, and the two exchange several blows. Then, Vigilante gets under Prometheus' guard, grabs him by the arm, and throws him over his shoulder.

Prometheus scrambles back to his feet as Vigilante rushes at him. But Prometheus gets under his guard and grabs him by the arm and the throat. Even as Vigilante struggles to fight back, Prometheus walks forward and throws Vigilante off the roof.

A moment later, Prometheus walks up to the edge and looks over the edge. But, Vigilante is gone.

Prometheus continues looking over the edge for a few moments, then turns away and pulls back his hood and removes his mask, revealing the face of Adrian Chase. Chase reaches into his pocket for his phone, dials the tip-line number, and quickly answers, "Yes. I'd like to report a sighting of Vigilante. This is District Attorney Chase."

As he gives the person on the other end the necessary details of his "sighting", he has no idea that from the next roof over, Bucky is watching him through the scope of his sniper rifle. Completely stunned.

A sense of betrayal quickly fills Bucky as he lets his sniper rifle fall. The man who had been one of Oliver's right hand men and one of his friends. The man who had helped Bucky and the others free John, and had made Bucky feel like he had started what was going to be a good friendship. This whole time, he was the psychopath who had them running circles.

After a few moments, he shakes himself out of his stupor and looks back at Chase. Chase seems to have just finished his phone call, as he's putting his phone away. Bucky growls and fires off an extension cable and swings across to the roof of building. As he hits the roof, he shouts, "CHASE!"

Chase, who had just finished putting up his mask, whips his head around to look at Bucky, who has started running after him, then turns and starts running. Bucky sprints after him, pulling out a pistol and shooting after him, but Chase turns and avoids the bullets before leaping off the building's roof.

Bucky follows him right off the roof and onto the roof of a neighboring building. Chase has a significant lead, but Bucky is slowly closing in on him.

For several minutes, Bucky pursues Chase across rooftops, trying to catch him. As he's finally getting close, he suddenly hears a whistling from his right. He stops short and raises his cybernetic arm, and something deflects off of it. Lowering his arm, he sees Harkness smirking at him from across the rooftop.

"A pleasure to meet you, Winter Soldier. And to kill you," Harkness says before he throws one of his boomerangs at Bucky. Bucky easily jumps to the side, pulling out a pistol and firing at Harkness, who ducks behind a large air conditioning unit on the roof as he catches his returning boomerang. He leans out a second later and throws two more boomerangs. Bucky deflects one off of his cybernetic arm and races towards Harkness, ducking as he goes to avoid the second boomerang as it returns to Harkness.

Harkness leaps out of his hiding place, a boomerang in each hand. Bucky draws his stun baton, and lunges at Harkness. The two fight fiercely for a minute, Harkness striking with his boomerangs, and Bucky striking with his stun baton and his cybernetic arm.

Finally, Bucky manages to dodge a swipe from Harkness with one his boomerangs, grabs the boomerang out of Harkness' hand with his cybernetic arm, and then breaks it in his hand. Then, he takes a swing with his baton at Harkness, striking him across the face and knocking him down. Bucky pulls out a pistol, and aims at Harkness before Harkness pulls out another boomerang and throws it down towards Bucky's feet. The boomerang explodes, knocking Bucky off his feet.

Bucky quickly scrambles back to his feet, scanning the rooftop. Harkness is gone, and a quick look around the whole roof shows that Chase is gone too.

Bucky clenches his fist, then lets out a cry of anger, furious that Chase got away.

"Mark my words, Chase. You will pay for that you've done," Bucky growls.

* * *

 **And, I'll end there. I hope you guys liked this chapter.**

 **So, I just decided to with this idea of Bucky finding out because I felt it was the easiest to explain. Plus, I really like Vigilante's character, and I wish they had included him more in the show. So, I just decided to give him a bigger role in this story.**

 **So, Bucky finally knows who Prometheus is. It'll take another chapter or two before they're able to expose him to the rest of Star City.**

 **Next chapter should be up soon. Until then, please review, and stay tuned!**


	17. Chapter 17- Tensions

**Back with another chapter.**

 **Hope you guys liked the last one. This won't be as exciting as last chapter, but it should hopefully be good.**

 **Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 17- Tensions

Bucky stands perfectly still as the elevator descends to the bunker, still furious over his discovery. When the doors open, he stands there for a second before he walks out of the elevator.

Everyone looks over at him as he walks out of the elevator. They can quickly tell from the expression on his face that something is really bothering him.

After a moment, Laurel speaks up and asks, "Bucky. What's wrong?"

Bucky looks up at the team as he slowly walks over to them. He stops and looks at them for a second, then says, in a voice full of anger and hate, "It was Chase. All this time. It was Chase."

"Chase? What did he do?" Felicity asks, not catching on.

"He's Prometheus. Adrian Chase is Prometheus," Bucky says with fury. Everyone on the team looks shocked.

"Chase? He's Prometheus? But he was Oliver's friend. And he helped get Diggle released from prison. Why do all that if he was the one trying to destroy Oliver completely?" Curtis asks.

"Cuz he's crazy?" Rene suggests.

"Because he wanted to keep suspicion off him until he could fulfill his plan. And make sure that the betrayal hurt even worse," Bucky says angrily.

For a few moments, everyone is quiet. Finally, Diggle asks, "You gonna be okay, man?"

"I thought Chase was a friend. That he was somebody I could trust," Bucky says under his breath.

Laurel looks at him with sympathy. Then, she walks towards him and says, "Come on. Let's go grab a drink." Bucky slowly nods and lets Laurel lead him out of the bunker.

As everyone watches the two of them leave, Felicity's phone rings. Looking down at the screen, she recognizes the number. She answers the phone and asks in a low voice, "Hey, have you found anything?"

A moment later, she says, "Okay. I'll be right there." She hangs up, and looks up at everyone, who are looking at her.

"I need to go. A friend of mine may have found a clue," she says. And with that, she stands up and hurries out of the bunker. Diggle stares after her, a little concerned.

* * *

(Nearby bar)

Bucky downs another shot, just staring ahead. Laurel sits beside him, looking at him with concern.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Laurel asks.

"No. I'm not. I thought Chase was somebody who could be trusted. I thought he was a friend," Bucky says.

"I know. I have a little experience with betrayal. It's not something you can prepare for. And it's not something that's easy to get over," Laurel says.

Bucky nods, staring off into the distance. "I wish Steve was here," he says in a low voice.

* * *

(HELIX base)

"So, did you find anything?" Felicity asks as she hurries down the stairs.

Alena is sitting at her station, but as Felicity calls out, she turns around and quickly stands up.

"Yes, I did find something," she says, picking up a tablet and hurrying over to Felicity, tapping the screen a few times.

When she gets to Felicity, she turns the tablet so Felicity can see the screen. Looking at it, she sees some of the documents relating to Justin Claybourne's divorce.

"So, you mentioned that you think this Prometheus was linked to Justin Claybourne, and may be his son. So, we looked into his son's identity. And we were able to find out his real name. Simon Morrison," Alena says as she pulls up the birth certificate with the Simon Morrison on it.

"Okay. Do you know where I can find him?" Felicity asks Alena.

"We've tried. There is no record of a Simon Morrison in any recent records we've searched," she responds.

Felicity looks confused. "Well, then how is this information gonna help me?" she asks.

Alena smiles. "We found him already," she says.

Felicity feels confused. "What do you mean?" she asks.

Alena smiles even more. "We were confused as to why there's no recent records of a Simon Morrison, so we looked into where he went. And we found there are recent records of him. Just under a different name," she replies.

Felicity starts to smile, thinking she knows where this is going. "He forged a false identity, and he's using that identity now?" she asks rhetorically.

Alena nods. "Yeah. And we found out what that false identity is," she says. She then pulls up a picture of Chase as she says, "His fake identity is Adrian Chase. The DA of Star City."

Felicity tries to look surprised. "Seriously?" she asks.

"Yeah," Alena nods vigorously.

Felicity looks at the screen for several more moments. Then, she says, "Can you download this info onto a flash drive for me?"

Alena reaches into her pocket and pulls out a flash drive, which she holds up for Felicity to see. "I had a feeling you'd ask for that. Already done," she says.

Felicity beams as she takes the flash drive from Alena. "Thank you so much, Alena," she says, right before her phone goes off. Looking down at it, she sees several texts from Diggle, asking where she is and asking for her to come back to the bunker.

"Alright. I have to go. But thanks again," Felicity says.

"You're welcome. Oh, and one more thing. We have found a couple of pictures we think may give us a clue as to the identity of Prometheus. They need to be enhanced, which may take a while. But I'll call you whenever we get something," Alena says.

"Of course. Thank you again," she says before turning and walking out.

* * *

(The bunker)

Bucky and Laurel walk back in, wondering why Diggle summoned them back. As they enter, they see that Diggle is talking to Felicity, and doesn't look the most pleased.

"What's going on?" Bucky asks.

"Well, Felicity left her right after you two did. I thought she was being a little secretive, so I texted her to come back. And I found out something interesting when she did," Diggle says.

"What?" Bucky asks.

"She found some info on Chase. Albeit, some good info. But...she crossed a line in doing so," Diggle says.

"What?" Bucky asks suspiciously.

"What Felicity has neglected to tell us is that since you started working with Chase to get me out of prison, she's been working with an organization of cyberterrorists called Helix to get the information. And has had to do one or two things for them that are less than honorable," Diggle says.

Bucky looks right at Felicity, his eyes narrowing. "You what?" he demands.

"They had information that could've helped me find something to free Diggle. And I've been working with them because they're just as good as me, if not better. They reached out to me because one of them knew my old hacker ID, and wanted to meet me and help me out. I figured if I worked with them, I'd have a greater chance of finding info to help us take down Prometheus. And they gave me some helpful information," Felicity says defensively.

"And yet you worked for a group of cyberterrorists. All because someone was a fan?" Bucky asks, his voice getting more angry.

"I didn't realize everything they did at first. And then, I figured it wouldn't matter, because I felt anything they asked me to do was a small price to pay for finding out information that could help us stop Prometheus," Felicity replies.

Bucky just stands there for a moment, glaring at Felicity. Finally, he asks, "What information did they give you?"

Knowing it's not over, but glad they're at least temporarily on a different topic, Felicity holds out the flash drive Alena gave her and says, "They found evidence that Adrian Chase is a false identity. His real name is Simon Morrison. And, they said they may have some pictures of him that could help expose his identity as Prometheus, but they did time to develop and enhance them."

Bucky stalks over to Felicity and pulls the flash drive from her hands. "I will take this to Pike. The rest of you, go home for the night. Except you, Felicity. I need to finish our chat once I get back." And with that, he moves towards his uniform.

* * *

(Police station)

Captain Pike slowly walks out of the police station, ready to head home after a long day. Suddenly, he hears something on the fire escape above him. Turning around, he sees Bucky, in his full uniform, standing on the fire escape.

"The Winter Soldier. To what do I owe this visit?" he asks.

Bucy stands there for a moment before leaping off the fire escape and landing in front of Pike. Slowly standing, he reaches into his pocket for the flash drive, and hands it out to Pike. "THis flash drive contains some sensitive information. With the information on this drive, you can confirm that Adrian Chase is a false identity, and that his real name is Simon Morrison. We also have suspicion that he may be Prometheus, though we have yet to acquire any hard evidence. I'm trusting that you will know what to do with this. Keep Chase under surveillance, but do not try to engage. He will massacre whoever you send after him if he is Prometheus," Bucky explains.

Pike slowly reaches out and takes the flash drive from Bucky. He looks at it for a moment before looking back at Bucky and says, "Are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely. And I believe I may have seen Chase as Prometheus. But, I know that my testimony won't fly with anybody else. Just observe him for the time being. Keep this knowledge limited to as few officers as possible. And don't engage," Bucky says before turning and firing off an extension cable, yanking him up to the fire escape, and quickly vanishing onto the roof.

Pike stares after him for a moment, then looks down at the flash drive in his hand, wondering if he should believe it.

* * *

(The bunker)

Felicity types away the computer, nervously biting her lip as she waits for Bucky to return. She knows whatever he says when he comes back, it's not going to be pleasant.

The sound of the elevator descending draws her attention. She looks over towards the doors. It's a few more moments before they open and Bucky walks out.

Bucky walks over to the computer station in silence. Felicity waits in agony for him to start talking. When he gets to her, he just looks at her for a moment. When he does start to speak, it's in a low voice.

"I will agree to let you work with Helix until we get that picture from them. After they give it to us, you're done with them," Bucky says.

"Bucky...you have to understand. We needed the information to find Prometheus," she says slowly.

"So far as you've told me, they have not given us any information we could have gone without. I'll admit, if they can give us those pictures, your working with them will at least yield some profit. But I can't believe you would think any of us, especially me, would be okay with this. I spent enough time being controlled by a terrorist organization. I will not work with Helix. They are too dangerous. You will not work with them again after they give us those photos, or your place on this team will be gone. Understood?" he says harshly.

"Crystal," she replies.

Bucky continues to look at her for another moment, then turns and stalks away. She stares after him, wondering if it was worth it to work with Helix after all.

* * *

 **And, I'll end there.**

 **I hope this wasn't too bad. I wasn't entirely sure about this chapter, but I felt it would fill in a few holes in this story.**

 **Next chapter will be where it really starts to get exciting. Hope you are as excited as I am.**

 **Until next chapter, please review and give me your feedback, and stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	18. Chapter 18- Siren on the Hunt

**Alright. Back with another chapter.**

 **We are finally getting into the exciting part of this story. The culmination of the war with Prometheus. And in this chapter, we'll get to a showdown I'm sure you're excited for.**

 **Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 18- Siren on the Hunt

Bucky slowly walks along the road in downtown Star City, hands in his pockets. It's been two days since the incident. Since then, there have been tensions in the bunker between Felicity and the rest of the team. Particularly Diggle, as he was familiar with Helix due to his connection to ARGUS.

Since then, Bucky hasn't spent much time in the bunker, or even operating as the Winter Soldier. He has just needed some time to himself. He's spent the last two days either by himself or with Laurel. She is the only one who he feels he can truly be himself around.

As Bucky walks around a corner, he gets a craving for an ice cream. Knowing there's a Dairy Queen not too far away, he turns in that direction.

Suddenly, he hears a whistling and he just manages to duck aside. He whips around, and sees Prometheus stalking towards him.

Bucky growls and runs right at Prometheus. Prometheus rushes at him, and the two clash with a flurry of punches and kicks.

Bucky successfully blocks Prometheus' blows for several moments. Then, Prometheus gets in a kick to his chest, knocking him back several feet. Bucky stumbles to a stop, and readies himself to keep fighting. Then, a loud scream splits the air, and a shock wave knocks him flying back.

Bucky gets knocked tumbling. He scrambles to his feet, trying to turn to face Prometheus. But, as he does, he sees Prometheus with his bow aimed and an arrow nocked. Before Bucky can react, an arrow drives into Bucky's right shoulder. A second one hits him in the lower stomach. Bucky stumbles, then collapses to the ground. Prometheus chuckles before turning to and walking away.

Only moments later, Captain Pike comes around the corner, on the way to get an ice cream himself. He sees Bucky lying on the ground, two arrows sticking out of him, and races over. "Captain Pike to Central! We have another Prometheus attack! One victim down! I need an ambulance at 8th and State!" he says loudly as he races up Bucky.

* * *

(Hours later)

Laurel wrings her hands nervously. She, Diggle, and Rene have all been waiting in the lobby of Starling General for several hours now. Quentin joined them about an hour ago.

"Party for James Buchanan Barnes?" they hear someone call out. All four of them turn towards the sound of the voice, and see a doctor with a clipboard standing outside one of the sets of doors leading further into the hospital.

All four of them stand up and walk over to him. "How is he?" Laurel asks with worry.

"He's gonna be okay. The arrows didn't damage any vital organs. And his blood loss wasn't too bad. He'll need a few days in recovery before we can release him. But, he'll live," the doctor says.

"Can we see him?" Diggle asks.

"Yeah," the doctor says as he leads them through the doors and down the hallway. They go up a few floors and down another hallway, and the doctor stops in front of a door. "He's in here. I'll let you all talk alone," the doctor says.

Laurel rushes in, the other three following her. In the center of the room, they see Bucky lying on his bed, wide awake. He looks over them and smiles. "Hey, guys. What's up?"

"What happened?!" Laurel bursts out.

"I was out for a walk. Prometheus tracked me and attacked me when I was in a less crowded area. I was fighting him, when I had a scream and got knocked over. I'm guessing that lady with a Canary Cry that we spotted with Viper came with him. After her attack, it gave Prometheus a chance to shoot me," Bucky says.

Laurel's face grows angry. Diggle, in the meantime, asks, "What do you think he was trying to do? I doubt this is just a random attack. Do you think he could be trying to distract us from something else? Or take out the biggest threat to his next step?"

"I don't know," Bucky responds.

Laurel, however stand there in silence, thinking about Diggle's questions, wondering what Prometheus was hoping to accomplish by attacking Bucky. And wondering why he didn't just kill Bucky.

"Laurel?" Diggle asks. She looks up and sees everyone is looking at her.

"I'm sorry. I need to use the restroom. I'll be back," Laurel says. She smiles reassuringly at Bucky then turns and walks out of the room. As soon as she gets out of the room, her face goes deadly serious, and she clenches her fists as she heads back the way they came in.

* * *

(The bunker)

Laurel strides into the bunker. Felicity and Curtis are talking at the computer station, and turn to look at her, and are instantly concerned by the look on her face.

"What's wrong? Is Bucky okay?" Felicity asks in concern.

"He'll be fine. He'll be better once I find Prometheus," she growls.

Felicity and Curtis both look alarmed. "You can't go after Prometheus alone, Laurel. He's got too many allies!" Curtis protests.

"He attacked and nearly killed someone I care about. He's gonna pay for everything he's done. And I'm going after him, whether you like it or not. And you can't stop me. So, what's it gonna be?" Laurel responds fiercely.

Felicity and Curtis both stare at her for a moment. Finally, Curtis holds up his hands in surrender and says, "Alright. We'll help."

Laurel nods, then stalks over to them. "Bucky said that it wasn't just Prometheus who attacked him. The lady who has a scream like mine was with him. And I think that she's gonna be easier to track. Find her," she orders.

Felicity quickly turns and begins typing. Laurel turns and heads towards her uniform. "I'll head to the site of the attack. Call me when you have a location," she says.

* * *

(Attack site)

Laurel bends down, examining the footprints in the gravel. She looks up, following the footprints. Knowing where Prometheus had to be, these footprints had to be that woman who was with Prometheus.

"Laurel?" Laurel's head jerks up at the sound of Felicity's voice over her comms.

"What do you have for me, Felicity?" she asks.

"I've spotted that woman. She's just three blocks north of the old lair, and heading towards it. If you head right for Verdant, you should be able to intercept her," Felicity says.

"On my way," Laurel responds. She races to her motorcycle, hops on, and takes off for Verdant.

It doesn't take too long for her to reach Verdant. She parks her motorcycle just around the corner from it, then climbs up a fire escape to get on top of a neighboring building.

She slowly makes her way to the north edge of the building, leaning over the edge and watching the street below her. It only takes a minute before she sees a woman wearing a black leather coat walking along the sidewalk.

"Gotcha," Laurel whispers. She jumps off the roof and onto the fire escape. She races down it, and at the bottom she leaps off of it and onto the sidewalk. She slowly stands and looks right at her opponent. And with a shock, she recognizes her.

"Dinah Drake," she says in a low voice, remembering meeting her doppelganger during her time going to law school.

"You know me?" Dinah asks.

"I met you a long time ago. You wouldn't remember me. But it doesn't matter. I'm gonna take you down," Laurel says. She leans forward and unleashes her scream. Dinah dodges to the side, avoiding it. She pops up and unleashes her own scream. Laurel doesn't dodge fast enough, and gets knocked back.

She scrambles back to her feet, only for a second cry to knock her down. Again, she tries to scramble back to her feet. As she does, she sees Dinah right in front of her. However, Dinah quickly lands a punch right to the face, again knocking Laurel down.

"We may have the same power. But I think I'm better than you. And once I beat you, I'll help Prometheus defeat the Winter Soldier. And then, the Green Arrow will finally show his face," Dinah says.

Suddenly, there's a strange whirring noise, and something smacks Dinah really hard and knocks her over. She tries to shake it off, and both her and Laurel turn to look down the street, where they see Curtis, dressed in his uniform, and T-Sphere in hand.

"You know, I think you really ought to shut up," Curtis says before running right at Dinah. She shifts into a better stance, and throws a punch as Curtis reaches her.

For several moments, the two exchange blows. Then, Dinah gets in a shot right at Curtis' leg, then knocks him back. Before she can get in another blow, Laurel, no longer dazed, lets out a cry, knocking Dinah flying back.

Laurel stalks towards Dinah. But, before she can unleash another cry, Dinah throws something down. A moment later, it explodes in a cloud of smoke and light, forcing them to avert their gaze. When they turn back, DInah is gone.

Laurel looks at the spot where Dinah was, growling at her missed chance. Then, she turns to Curtis and says, "Thanks for the assist."

"No problem. Now, we just have to try and figure out who the h*** this woman is," Curtis says.

"I already know who she is," Laurel responds.

* * *

(The bunker)

"Her name is Dinah Drake. Back on Earth-2, I met her during my time in law school in Central City. She was going into the police academy, but flunked out. Next I heard of her was on the list of names of casualties caused the particle accelerator explosion on Earth-2," Laurel says to the whole crew, who has all gathered after Felicity issued the call.

"And on this Earth, she instead survived the explosion and got the same powers you did," Diggle remarks.

"Yeah. But, her cry seems more focused than mine. And, she seems very competent at hand-to-hand," Laurel says.

"She beat me without hardly a problem. If you don't count her advantage with her cry, I don't think me and Rene can beat her. And maybe not even you Laurel. Only Diggle and Bucky I think really have a chance," Curtis adds.

"Well, it's not a surprise she's so good. I just looked her up. She used to be on the Central City police department. She was one of their finest. She was on an undercover mission right before the accelerator explosion, investigating crime lord Sean Sonus. Her partner, Vincent Sobel, was killed by Sonus. She quit the force shortly after his funeral. And, I found out that Sonus was found dead on a building roof in Hub City, along with a large number of his men. Evidence shows that Prometheus was involved. If I had to wager, I'd say that Prometheus tracked down Miss Drake, helped her get revenge on Sonus, and then got her to help him as repayment," Felicity says.

Laurel sighs. "So, Prometheus not only has Evelyn Sharp and Viper helping him, but also a woman just like me, Carrie Cutter, China White, and Digger Harkness," she mutters, realizing just how many allies Prometheus has.

"We need to be on full alert. I got something out of Dinah. From what she said, I think that Chase still thinks Oliver is here on this Earth. He thinks that Bucky is protecting him. Taking his place to try and take down Chase and keep Oliver out of harm's way. He thinks Bucky is something like Oliver's hired muscle to deal with Chase. Dinah said once she took me down, she'd help Chase kill Bucky for good, and then they'd be able to draw Oliver back out," Laurel says.

"Well, that's not good," Curtis says.

Diggle starts to smile. "No, that may actually be good news. Chase doesn't know yet that Oliver is on another Earth. Maybe we can use that fact against him," he says.

"How?" Laurel asks.

"I've got an idea. But I need to make a call," Diggle says. He walks off, pulling out his phone.

Suddenly, there's a beeping from the computer. Felicity turns towards it, and types a few keys. She suddenly freezes, then throws her arms up and says, "Yes!"

"What is it?" Rene asks.

"HELIX came through! They just sent me this! They got it off footage from a satellite," Felicity says as she hits the play button. Everyone watches as Prometheus turns away from something, facing in the direction of the camera, and pulls off his mask, revealing the face of Adrian Chase.

Laurel breaks out in a huge grin. "Yes! We've got him!" she says.

Rene and Curtis both start grinning. After another moment, Laurel says, "I'll take this to my dad. He'll get it to the SCPD."

"And I'll throw this up on Youtube. There won't be anywhere the SOB can run," Felicity says triumphantly.

Laurel smiles as Felicity hands her a USB. Laurel beams as she heads for the exit.

* * *

(SCPD Precinct)

Quentin smiles as the video footage comes up. He couldn't believe it when Laurel walked into his office with that footage.

"Now, we have run this footager by three different experts. It has been authenticated. It has not been altered in any way. That is raw footage you're seeing," Quentin says as the video clearly shows Chase removing his mask.

"Chase is over at City Hall right now," one of the female officers says.

"Well, call the ACU and have them place the SOB under arrest," Quentin says. He looks around, smiling a bit at the triumphant smiles on many of the officers' faces.

* * *

(City Hall)

Chase scribbles away, finishing a memo for a court case, while silently wondering how Dinah did on her mission of drawing out Black Siren.

"Mr. Chase," a voice calls from outside his office.

Chase looks up. Even though it sounds harmless, he grabs his pen, and a small knife. "Yes?" he calls back.

A moment later, the door is smashed open as four ACU officer race in, weapons raised. Chase reacts instantly. He throws his pen into the eye of one of them, and the man collapses in agony. Chase then flips his desk and shoves it towards them. They try to jump aside, but Chase leaps over the desk. Grabbing one by the throat, he stabs him through the ear. Another officer tries to hit him with his gun, but Chase gets under his guard and slits his throat. The last officer tries to shoot him, but Chase uses the guard he just killed as a shield, then throws him at the standing officer, forcing the officer to stumble. Chase throws the knife, which goes right through his throat.

Chase stands amidst the bodies. He soon reaches down and picks up a pistol before pulling his knife out of the officer's throat. He then races towards the window and leaps out, disappearing into the night.

* * *

 **And, I'll end there.**

 **I hoped you liked the showdown between Laurel and Dinah. I also promise that this will not be the last time they fight. They will face each other at least one more time.**

 **Obviously, Laurel knowing Dinah's doppelganger is something of my own invention. I just put it in there so they would be able to find out her identity.**

 **I originally had another plan for this chapter. I had a thought of introducing another villain on Chase's side to rescue him from the ACU, with Marvel's Count Nefaria being the prime candidate, but I decided he had enough allies. The reason for almost introducing Nefaria will be explained after the last battle.**

 **Next chapter will feature Chase's capture, and you'll find out Diggle's plan. It may surprise you all. Also, please let me know if I should still have Chase kidnap William as an extra hostage.**

 **Until next time, please, please review and give me your feedback. And stay tuned!**


	19. Chapter 19- Deception

**Alright, back with another chapter. Hope you liked the last one.**

 **Enough chit-chat. Let's get to it. Hope you don't mind the chapter title.**

* * *

Chapter 19- Deception

Bucky walks through the doors, smiling at the sight of the team waiting for him in the center of the bunker.

"Welcome back to the team, Bucky," Diggle says with a grin.

"Good to be back on my feet again," Bucky says, also with a grin.

Laurel jogs over and gives him a hug. "Glad you're back with us. It wasn't the same without you," she says. Bucky smiles as he hugs her back. Unknown to them, everyone else is grinning at the sight of the two of them.

Laurel lets Bucky go, and follows him back over to the rest of the team. Bucky looks at Felicity and says, "I have to admit, even though I'm still very upset with you for working Helix, Felicity, your brief partnership with them payed off. Without them, we never would've gotten that video." Felicity smiles a bit, both triumphantly and with shame.

"Now, have we had any sightings of Chase since you released that footage?" Bucky asks.

Felicity shakes her head. "Unfortunately not. I've been coordinating with ARGUS, but we have had no sign of Chase yet," she replies.

Rene looks over at Diggle. A second later, he says, "However, Dig here has a plan that he has so far neglected to tell us."

Bucky turns to Diggle, raising an eyebrow. "Care to share with the rest of the class now that I'm back?" he asks.

Diggle smiles back. "Well, it involved me making some very important calls. And some of those were very difficult calls. And I was able to get somebody to help that will be the key to pulling this off. I think it may work," Diggle says.

Bucky lifts his hands, as if saying, "Well?" Diggle smiles, and begins to explain his plan.

By the time Diggle finishes telling Bucky his plan, Bucky is grinning. "This is brilliant, Diggle. Totally out of your mind. But I think it may very well work."

"If we don't die," Laurel adds with a smirk. Bucky gives her the look, then looks back at Diggle. "So, how do we start?"

* * *

(City Hall)

Bucky walks in the doors of City Hall, his hands in his pockets. As he enters, he sees Captain Pike talking with Quentin.

"Hey, Quentin. Captain Pike," Bucky says as he walks in.

"Hey, Bucky," Quentin says in greeting.

"Mr. Barnes," Pike says with a nod of his head.

"What are you two talking about?" Bucky asks.

"The manhunt for Chase. Ever since killing those 4 officers, he's given us the slip," Quentin responds.

"Well. I'm sure you're doing all you can. In the meantime, I came to talk to you. I've been sent as a representative for ARGUS. I have some intel and general information from ARGUS for you. Perhaps we could talk about this situation over a bite to eat?" Bucky suggests.

Quentin looks at Bucky for a moment, then grins. He then looks to Pike and asks, "Why not?"

Pike stands there for a moment, then shrugs and says, "Sure."

* * *

(The Glades)

The drug dealers chuckles as they open their stash of Vertigo. "Man, I thought we wouldn't be able to get our hands on any of this again. This is gonna make us rich," one says.

Suddenly, there's the twang of a bow, and an arrow slices through the bag, scattering the pills everywhere. Suddenly, a figure leaps down from a shipping crate next to them. A single punch to the head knocks out one, and a blow from his bow knocks out the other.

The two drug dealers collapse in heaps, as the Green Arrow stands over them, feeling good to be on the streets again.

* * *

(Big Belly Burger)

"A little informal, don't you think?" Pike asks as the waitress brings them their orders.

"Hey, I don't care what anyone says. Big Belly Burger is the best restaurant in town. Never had a better burger," Bucky says with a grin.

Pike shrugs and says, "Fair point." He, Bucky, and Quentin quickly dig into their burgers.

"So, Captain. As I said, I have some intel from ARGUS on Adrian Chase. We have proof that he is the one behind the disappearance of Carrie Cutter and China White, though he was not responsible for the death of Liza Warner. We also have evidence he has multiple other lieutenants. We have counted 4 more besides Cutter and White," Bucky says.

"You're sure about this?" Pike asks in concern.

"Absolutely. We also have had some evidence that someone matching Chase's description being spotted in Bludhaven, though admittedly we are still working to verify those reports," Bucky says.

"I'll detail some officers to search that area. Thank you for the tip," Pike says.

Bucky nods, then pauses for a moment. "ARGUS also has a request from the SCPD. Once Chase is captured, they want him to be given into their custody. They can hold him in a prison strong enough for him," Bucky adds.

Pike looks a little hesitant. Quentin turns to Pike and says, "You have to admit Frank. Our officers are clearly not good enough to handle him. And I'm sure he's trained to escape a cell. ARGUS could contain him."

Pike looks at Bucky. After a moment, he nods. "Fair point. You can pass on to your director that ARGUS will have custody once Chase is captured," he says to Bucky, who nods in response before taking another bite out of his burger.

* * *

(Warehouse in Star City)

Chase listens to the police dispatch transmissions as he watches a video from one of the cameras planted by Viper's men, which is currently showing Bucky eating with Pike and Quentin. As he does, he hears an officer shout, "All units. Green Arrow has returned. He was spotted at a neighborhood in the Glades. Most recent sighting has spotted him along the northern border of the Glades."

Chase walks towards where his weapons are, a grim look on his face. _Finally, Queen has showed himself_ , he thinks to himself.

* * *

(The Glades)

The Green Arrow walks along the roof of a warehouse, searching for another drug dealer or mugger to take down. This feeling has been great.

Suddenly, he hears a twang behind him. He whips around and grabs the arrow as it's just an inch from his face. He looks beyond it, and sees Prometheus standing about ten yards away.

Green Arrow lowers his hand, glaring at Prometheus. "I had a feeling you'd find me," he says.

"Well, then. Perhaps you should have been more discreet in returning to the streets," Prometheus responds.

"Who says that wasn't my intention?" Green Arrow replies before drawing an arrow and firing it at Prometheus. Prometheus easily dodges it, and fires an arrow in return. Both of them keep dodging arrows as they fire at each other.

It quickly becomes apparent arrows are not going to get the job done. Prometheus draws his sword and rushes at Green Arrow as Green Arrow rushes at Prometheus.

Green Arrow and Prometheus attack each other viciously, striking with their weapons, their fists, and their legs. The two are a flurry for about half a minute. Finally, Green Arrow blocks Prometheus' sword and swipes it aside, then grabs Prometheus by the throat. He then drops his bow, growls, and says, "See you in a cell, Chase." He then delivers a punch to the face so strong it knocks out Prometheus instantly.

Green Arrow smiles as he looks down triumphantly at Prometheus. He then presses his comms and says, "Overwatch. He''s down."

* * *

(Big Belly Burger)

Pike chuckles as he, Quentin, and Bucky walk out of the Big Belly Burger. "This was nice," he says.

Bucky and Quentin both grin. Then, Pike's phone starts to ring. He reaches down and pulls it out of his pocket before answering it with a simple, "Pike."

He waits for a moment, listening to the person on the other end. Then, he says, "Understood. I'll be there shortly."

He looks up and says, "Excuse me. That was the precinct."

"What happened?" Bucky asks.

"The Green Arrow has returned, and he took down Prometheus. He flagged down one of our squad cars. A SWAT team just picked him up and is transporting him to the precinct," Pike says.

Bucky and Quentin look at him in surprise, not having expected that. Then, Pike looks at Bucky and says, "Call your director. Let them know Adrian Chase is in custody, and they can send a team to take him."

Bucky nods, then says, "We won't keep you anymore, Captain." Pike nods, and hurries away.

Quentin and Bucky look at each other, and once they know Pike is out of sight, smile. "Well. It worked," Quentin says. Bucky just nods with a grin.

* * *

(The bunker)

"This is breaking news. The Green Arrow has returned to our streets! And in his first appearance since the alien invasion a few months ago, he successfully brought down the Throwing Star Killer, the serial killer who has since been identified as District Attorney Adrian Chase. Mr. Chase was given into SCPD custody, and has just arrived at the police precinct. He will be held there until he is remanded into federal custody. No official statement has been issued by the SCPD, but it is expected they will shortly. We will keep you updated as this story unfolds."

The whole team watches the news report. Diggle grins as he turns to Green Arrow. "Well, it worked," he says.

The doors to the bunker suddenly open, and Bucky walks in. Everyone looks over at him as he walks onto the platform. He looks at them and asks seriously, "It worked?"

"Perfectly," Green Arrow responds.

Bucky nods, then reaches up, and pulls off his face mask, revealing the face of Christopher Chance. He nods at Green Arrow and says, "And he still believes he was caught by Oliver Queen."

Green Arrow nods, then throws back his hood to reveal the face of Oliver Queen. He then removes his face mask, revealing the face of Bucky. He grins at Chance and says, "Thanks for hooking me up with this mask, Chance. I was a little skeptical, even with the Legends providing us with the uniform and bow. But with this...I think it's convinced him."

Chance smiles. "Glad I could help. Now, I have to be going, But I'm sure I'll see you around, Barnes," he says. He then turns and walks out of the bunker.

Bucky turns back to the rest of the team, grinning. He twists a little bit, then says, "This uniform is a little tight." That draws a few chuckles.

Bucky looks back at the news report. He smiles triumphantly as he looks at the picture of Chase. Finally, he's down.

* * *

 **And, I'll end there.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I really enjoyed writing this.**

 **I have revised the plan for this chapter several times, and only just recently decided to add Chance into it. I think he's been underused in the show, and wanted to give him an appearance in this, even if it was super brief. Then again, his first appearance was kinda brief too.**

 **So, in case you didn't catch it all, the plan involved Chance taking Bucky's place to give Bucky an alibi, then disguising Bucky as Green Arrow using a face mask provided by Chance and a uniform and bow provided by the Legends using the Waverider's fabricator. I know it may not have worked, given it's Chase and how good he is, but I figured it would stand a decent chance of working.**

 **Now, obviously, Chase is in custody. And starting next chapter, we'll get into Chase's escape and the final battle. I hope you're all excited.**

 **Until next time, please review and tell me how I did with this chapter. And stay tuned!**


	20. Chapter 20- Taken

**Hey, guys. Back with another chapter.**

 **I'm glad you guys have been enjoying it so far. I've really enjoyed it. And now, we're about to get into the final phase of Chase's plan. There will be a couple of twists here and in the following chapters that I'm sure you will guys will be surprised by, and hopefully will like.**

 **Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 20- Taken

"Former District Attorney Adrian Chase is facing multiple counts of capital murder, among other charges, following his capture three days ago. SCPD Spokesperson Alison Rou credits the Green Arrow, who has finally returned to our streets, with brining the man known as the Throwing Star Killer to justice."

Bucky, Thea, and Quentin smile as they watch the news report on Chase's capture. Thea turns it off and looks to Bucky. "Well, I feel that this city is gonna be really disappointed when the Green Arrow doesn't show up again. Unless he does," she says, giving Bucky a pointed look.

Bucky chuckles. "Maybe he can make an appearance every once in a while," he says with a grin.

"Well, I gotta get working. I gotta handle all the fallout from this," Quentin says. He then turns and starts to walk out of the room, then stops. He then turns around and looks to Bucky as he says, "Oh. Before I forget. Happy birthday, Bucky." Bucky smiles as Quentin walks out.

Bucky and Thea look at each other. "I better help him out. I'll see you later. And happy birthday from me too," Thea says before she follows Quentin out of the room.

Bucky continues to stand there for another moment before he heads out of the room and heads for the front doors. As he does, he pulls out his phone and calls Felicity. After a few rings, she picks up. As soon as she does, Bucky says, "Hey, call the team to the bunker. Now that Chase is down, I want to discuss our next major target."

* * *

(The bunker)

Bucky walks into the bunker to find the team already assembled. "Hey, guys. Thanks for coming," he says. He then looks around, and notices that Rene is missing. "Hey, Where's Rene?" he asks.

"Not sure. He hasn't answered my texts, but Quentin told me he was working on getting his daughter back, and it sounded like his court date was soon. He's probably getting ready for that," Felicity says.

Bucky nods, then looks around at everybody. "So, now that we've got Chase, I think it's time we get working on our next big target," he says.

"Which is who?" Diggle asks.

"HYDRA," Bucky responds simply.

Diggle nods in understanding. Bucky looks around and says, "China White let slip that HYDRA exists in this world, and she knew of them. And Viper is clearly a former member of HYDRA. More than that, she said that HYDRA had their own WInter Soldier. And I'm guessing that Viper's men are former HYDRA agents that probably followed her when she left HYDRA. I don't know what their goals are, but by the looks of it, it's probably exactly the same as on my Earth. I know we're supposed to protect Star City. But I'm not letting HYDRA roam free. On any Earth. So, I'm going after them. Do the rest of you want to help?"

A round of nods answers Bucky's question. "You've helped us take down Chase. Now it's our turn to help you," Diggle responds.

Bucky nods, smiling with gratitude. "Thanks, you guys. Now, I need to go pick up a few things at the store. I'll see you guys later," he says before walking out of the bunker.

* * *

(Bucky's apartment)

Bucky smiles and hums to himself as he walks down the hall towards the door to his apartment, carrying a bag with a few groceries in it. As he gets the door, he starts to reach for the doorknob when he notices that the door is just barely open.

Bucky instantly freezes, wondering what could be going on. He slowly lowers his bag to the ground, then steps forward and slowly opens the door. He takes a step in, and then his senses perk up. He whips to his right, grabs the person sneaking up on him, and flips him over his shoulder. He pins him to the ground, ready to deliver a powerful punch from his cybernetic arm until he recognizes the man. Diggle.

Right then, he hears Thea, Felicity, and Lyla cry out, "Surprise!" However, their voices trail off a bit at the end. Laurel cries out, "Surprise!" as well, but also falters at the end.

Diggle looks up at him and says, "Happy birthday. And everything hurts right now," he says before slowly getting to his feet. Bucky looks up at him for a second, then back down sheepishly.

Bucky gets back up, and Diggle leads him over to the table, where a cake decorated in black icing, with a red star in the middle. Bucky smiles as he leans down and blows out the candles.

"Where did you get this?" Diggle asks.

"Lord Mesa Bakery. They were a little confused as to why I wanted this design, but I managed to get it when I said it was for a little kid," Felicity replies.

Bucky chuckes, then looks to Diggle. "Hey. Sorry about that, Diggle," he says.

"It's okay. But, if I had actually been trying to attack you…" Diggle starts, but Bucky turns to him and raises his eyes. "Yes?" he asks.

"I would've...still ended up on the ground. Yeah," Diggle says before turning away.

Bucky chuckles and walks over towards the coffee table, where several presents are waiting. As he does, Felicity reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small device. Lyla walks over and glances down at them. "What are those?" she asks.

"These are sound modulators. Curtis was working on them for Laurel. He gave them to me to run some tests on to make sure they're ready. They'll help focus her cry and help bypass any kind of sonic dampener," Felicity explains.

"Nifty," Lyla says with a smile. After a quick pause, she asks, "Speaking of, where is Curtis?"

"Well, Rene hasn't answered any of his calls, so Curtis went to stop by to tell him to come on over for the party. Hopefully they should be here before long," Felicity says.

Right then, the doorbell rings. Thea walks over and opens the door to reveal Quentin standing there, holding a wrapped gift. He looks at her for a second, then asks, "I'm late, aren't I?"

"You're all good. Didn't miss much. Just Bucky flipping Diggle over his shoulder," Thea says as she stands aside to let Quentin in.

"I told you a surprise party wasn't a good idea," Quentin says.

"Everybody, gather up!" Laurel calls out. Quentin sets down his present on the TV stand and he and Thea walk over to where everyone has gathered for a toast.

"Thank you all for doing this. THis is the first time I've gotten to celebrate my birthday in over 70 years," Bucky says, drawing some laughs from everybody. He waits for a second, then says, "It's been very crazy for me the last two years, but here in Star City, among you guys, I've finally found a home. And I couldn't be more grateful." He then raises his glass, and says, "To friends."

"To friends," everyone echoes before they all take a drink.

After they take a drink, the group starts to disperse, leaving just Bucky and Laurel standing together. Laurel looks to him and says, "You know, it's nice to see you relaxing. With everything we've been going through with Chase, and discovering HYDRA exists, you've been focused so much on being the Winter Soldier. It's nice to see you at ease like this."

Bucky chuckles. "Yeah. You're right. It's nice to feel...well, relaxed," he says.

Laurel smiles back at him. She glances down at her glass, then looks back at him. "You know, I was thinking…" she starts. Suddenly, Bucky's phone rings, cutting her off.

"Sorry," Bucky says as he pulls it out. Seeing it's Curtis, he answers and says, "Hey, Curtis. What's up?"

"Umm, we may have a bit of a problem. Felicity asked me to by Rene's apartment to invite him to your surprise party. I just got here. His apartment has been broken into, and it looks like he's gone," Curtis says in a concerned tone.

"Are you sure?" Bucky asks in concern.

"Yeah, I'm…" Curtis starts, but he suddenly stops, as there's what sounds like a blow, and the sound of a body hitting the ground.

"Curtis? Curtis?!" Bucky calls into his phone loudly, but gets no response.

After a moment, Bucky lowers his phone and looks at Laurel. "That was Curtis," he says in a low voice. He then looks over at Diggle and says, "John. That was Curtis. And I think he got kidnapped mid-call. We gotta go." Diggle nods instantly, and races to find his gun stash. He grabs two and tosses one to Bucky. Bucky cocks the gun, and he and Diggle race out of the apartment, leaving everyone wondering what just happened.

* * *

(Rene's apartment)

Bucky and Diggle slowly enter the apartment, guns at the ready. They swivel their heads around, looking for any sign of Rene or Curtis, or whoever may have kidnapped them. Bucky glances down, and sees Curtis' phone. He slowly bends down and picks it up.

"I think it's safe to say my assumption was right," Bucky says.

"Yeah." Diggle says. A moment later, he says, "What's that?"

Bucky looks up, and his blood chills. That familiar symbol of the skull with the tentacles curling out of the bottom, inscribed within a circle.

"That's the symbol of HYDRA. Looks like Viper hasn't given up all ties with HYDRA. Though she may have just left this so we'd know it was her that kidnapped Rene and Curtis," Bucky says.

"What do we do?" Diggle asks.

"Well, it's clear that Chase's lieutenants are still carrying out his plans even though he's in prison. And I know that he's not planning to stop with just Rene and Curtis," Bucky says with relative calm before turning and walking out of the house, pulling out his phone to call Laurel.

* * *

(The bunker)

"So, basically, you're saying that catching Chase has done nothing to stop his plans?" Felicity asks.

"I should've expected this. Chase is smarter than this. He would've made contingencies. We should've expected a backlash this quick," Bucky says in irritation.

"Hey, you can't beat yourself up over this. It's not gonna help us stop Chase," Laurel says.

Bucky stands there for a moment, then says, "Alright. We clearly are in trouble. And for the moment, I want us to split up. Thea and Felicity, I want you and Quentin in ARGUS custody.. Lyla, I need you to find them a safe house where Chase can't get them. And, once you have that done, I need you to fly to the ARGUS base where you're keeping Chase. I need you to make sure he can't get out, and arrange greater security. I don't want to take any chances of him getting out."

"Understood," Lyla says.

"Bucky we are not leaving you," Thea says with determination.

"If Lyla can get you to a safe house without arousing suspicion, then Chase's lieutenants will have a much harder time finding you. And I need you away so I can focus on trying to find Chase," Bucky says in a tone that says he will not accept any arguments. Thea stares him down for a moment, then finally sighs and sits down.

Bucky then turns to Diggle and Laurel. "I want you two to stay here with me. We're gonna keep running the search for Chase's lieutenants. And I want to try and draw them out. When we do, you two are gonna help me take them down one by one," he says.

There are several people who look like they do not like this idea, but it is clear that Bucky is not in a mood to argue. Finally, Thea and Felicity stand up and follow Lyla out of the bunker.

* * *

(Later that night)

Bucky growls as he throws up his hands and scoots back from the computer, feeling very frustrated at his failure to find any of Chase's followers on facial recognition so far.

"Kinda wishing I'd kept Felicity here," Bucky says.

"Hey, don't worry about it now. There's nothing you can do but make do with what you've got," Laurel says.

Bucky sighs. After a moment, he says, "I can't believe I let this happen. I can't believe I let my guard down."

Laurel walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Bucky. I don't blame you, and nobody else does. You need to stop focusing on the guilt you're feeling and focus on stopping Chase," she says in a comforting tone.

Bucky looks at her for a moment, then slowly nods. Right then, the computer starts beeping rapidly. Bucky is instantly back at the computer, his fingers on the keys. After typing for a moment, his blood chills. "Oh no," he groans.

"What? What is it?" Diggle asks.

"Spotted White and Cutter. They're only about two blocks away from the safe house," Bucky says.

There's silence for a moment. Then, Bucky turns towards Diggle and says urgently, "Get that safe house on the phone right now!"

* * *

(ARGUS safe house)

Thea sighs as she twirls a chess piece in her hand. "Ugh. This is just cruel. I can't even use my phone," she says in frustration.

"I know how you feel," Felicity groans.

Quentin twirls a pen in hand, trying to think of something to do to keep himself busy. An ARGUS agent is standing next to him. Suddenly, the agent's phone rings. The man reaches down for it, and answers it, but the phone quickly cuts out.

Suddenly, there's the sound of a bow firing, and Thea, Felicity, and Quentin's blood chills. Knowing that Chase is in ARGUS custody, there's only one other person who it could be.

"Cutter," Thea says under her breath.

The agent rushes out of the room, only for their to be another sound of a bow firing, and the agent quickly collapses. Quentin leaps back from the door, towards Thea and Felicity.

For a second, there's quiet. Then, Cutter smashes down the door, and she stalks in, bow raised. Right behind her is China White, knives in hand.

"Well, well, well. The three amigos," Cutter says mockingly.

"Enough. We can taunt them later. Take them," White says before rushing at Thea.

Thea jumps at her, and they start fighting fiercely. Quentin races to engage White. For several moments, there are two fights going on. Then, Cutter and White both suddenly duck, right before a scream splits the air and a shockwave knocks Thea and Quentin back. Both of them go flying into a wall, and are knocked out instantly.

Felicity looks at Cutter and White in fear, and the woman behind them. She recognizes her, and says, in a low voice, "Dinah Drake."

Dinah smiles at her. "Yeah. And you're coming with us," she says. Cutter then throws a sedative dart at Felicity, and Felicity is down in a second.

White laughs, and Dinah says, "Let's get them out of here."

* * *

 **And, I'll end there. Sorry it took me a little longer than usual to get this update finished.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I hope you're excited for the final fight. And yes, I will confirm it now. The final battle will take place on Lian Yu.**

 **I will have the next chapter up soon. Until then, please, please review and give me your feedback. And stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	21. Chapter 21- Road to War

**Alright, everybody. Here we go. The last chapter to build up to the fight on Lian Yu.**

 **I hope that you guys have been enjoying this so far. And I'm hoping you like what I do with this chapter. There will be some similarities and differences compared to the show, and I think the differences will be ones you like.**

 **Alright, let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 21- Road to War

Bucky, Diggle, and Laurel race into the safe house, finding ARGUS agents milling around, and no sign of their friends.

"What happened?" Bucky demands.

"Carrie Cutter, Chien Na Wei, and Dinah Drake broke into the house, took out most of the guards and took your three friends," one of the agents says.

Bucky growls a bit. Then, he turns to Diggle and says, "Call Lyla. Get her on the phone."

Diggle whips out his phone and quickly dials Lyla. After a few rings, she picks up and answers with, "Hey, honey. What's up?"

"We have a problem. Cutter, White, and Drake found the safe house and took Thea, Quentin, and Felicity," Diggle explains.

"OMG. Are you all alright?" Lyla responds with worry.

"Yes. For now. Where are you?" Diggle asks.

"JJ and I are still on the C-130. We're making our descent into Whiteman Air Force Base right now," Lyla says.

"Don't Lyla. You can't land. If Chase has any sense, he's gonna try and take you too. Call a tanker to refuel the C-130. You can't land right now," Bucky says in warning.

"Alright. I'll tell the pilot. Is there anything else you need from me?" Lyla asks.

"No. Just keep yourself safe," Bucky says.

"Okay. You keep yourselves safe too," Lyla says before hanging up.

Bucky looks at both Diggle and Laurel, then motions them to follow him outside.

Once the three of them are all outside, Diggle looks right at Bucky and asks, "What's the plan?"

"You and Laurel need to go," Bucky says.

Both of them look at Bucky in surprise. "I know it's risky to split up again. But I think that Chase's suspicion will be that I will keep you close to me after Thea and the others got kidnapped. If you two leave, that may not be what he's expecting. Plus, I'm not just sending you away to have you hide. I want you to go to Central City and meet up with Barry and the others. I'll give them a call and let them know you're coming. Once I've located where Chase's followers are keeping our friends, I'll need you and Team Flash to come help me rescue them," Bucky explains.

Diggle looks hesitant, but Laurel looks angry. "If you think we're gonna leave you alone with Chase's lieutenants coming after us…" she starts.

Bucky quickly cuts her off. "Yes, I do. Because that is what Oliver would do, and Chase seems to believe that Oliver is back. We need to keep playing off of that if this is gonna work. I need you to get to Central City. If Team Flash joins us in this, we may very well be able to stop Chase."

There's a few more moments of silence before Diggle turns to Laurel. "He's right. Barry and his team could swing things in our favor. And, he has a point about separating when Chase might be expecting the opposite. Let's go, Laurel." Laurel looks at Diggle, ready to argue, but finally sighs and nods once. Diggle looks at Bucky, nods, then leads Laurel over to their car, and Bucky jogs towards his motorcycle.

* * *

(The bunker)

Bucky slowly walks into bunker, not sure what he's going to do. He had made Laurel and Diggle leave without truly knowing what he was going to do, and how was going to stop Chase. The only thing he has done is let Barry know that Laurel and Diggle are on their way to Central City.

He slowly walks over the row of glass cases, looking at Oliver's suit. As he looks at this suit, he finds himself wondering, _Oh, man. I wish you were here Queen. You probably would know what to do._

Suddenly, his senses perk up. For a moment, he stands there, still, trying to sense what's going on. Then, he hears something falling from the beams overhead, and he leaps towards the case, and grabs a dart out of the case, then turns and throws it. And it's caught by a man that Bucky recognizes from photos from the team's files. Malcolm Merlyn.

"Well. Your sense of hospitality is just as good as Oliver's," Malcolm says.

Bucky growls as he steps towards Malcolm. "You are not welcome here, Merlyn," Bucky says angrily, deactivating the nanite skin on his cybernetic arm and swinging it around once as a show of force.

"A metal arm does not scare me, Barnes. I would be more scared of a gun than that," Merlyn says, to which Bucky responds by yanking a hidden pistol out of its holster.

"I know what you've done. You caused the earthquake that devastated the Glades. You brought the wrath of the League of Assassins on Queen and his family. And you betrayed your family by throwing in with HIVE and served up Oliver Queen's son to Damien Darhk!" Bucy shouts, listing off Merlyn's most grievous offenses.

"I intend to apologize to Oliver and try to make amends. I thought I was doing what needed to be done. Except for William. With him, I just let my emotions gets out of hand. But that is all in the past. The only thing I am concerned with now is saving my daughter," Merlyn says firmly.

Bucky just glares at him for several tense moments. After several moments, Bucky slowly lowers the gun. "Fine. What do you propose we do next then, Merlyn?"

"Find your two friends you sent off to Central City," Merlyn says. Bucky looks at him in confusion.

"I know you sent John Diggle and Laurel Lance off to Central City. And that made me realize you're almost as dumb as Oliver," Malcolm says.

"What?" Bucky demands.

"Chase has always said he's ten steps ahead. Do you really think that he wouldn't think you'd try to outthink him like this?" Malcolm says.

Bucky stands there, a chill starting to run down his spine.

* * *

(Interstate)

Laurel sits quietly in the passenger seat as Diggle drives down the Interstate, heading out of Star City. Bucky had texted them soon after they left, saying that Barry was going to meet them in Boise, Idaho and run them the rest of the way to Central City. Something Diggle was not too happy about.

"I still can't believe we left him behind," Laurel says.

"I know, Laurel. I'm not too happy either. But he seemed confident in his plan. And we need to be able to trust him," Diggle says.

Laurel is about to respond when someone suddenly steps out into the road ahead of them. The figure turns towards them, raising a weapon and firing. A circular mine streaks down the road, then attaches to the bottom of the car as it passes under it. A second later, the mine explodes, knocking the car flying.

The car rolls several times before finally coming to a rest by the side of the road. Inside, both Diggle and Laurel cry out in pain.

"Are you alright, Laurel?" Diggle asks.

"Kind of," Laurel groans as she starts reaching up to unbuckle herself. Slowly, the two are able to climb out of the car.

As soon as they're out of the car, they look at each other to make sure they're okay. Other than some small cuts and bruises, both of them look pretty good.

"We need to get out of here. Fast," Laurel says.

Diggle nods, then his eyes widen and he says, "Laurel! Behind you!"

Laurel whips around, only to find herself faced with half a dozen men in green uniforms, with guns aimed right at her. Standing behind them is Viper, smirking at her smugly. At the same moment, Evelyn Sharp pops up next to Diggle, a gun pointed right at his head.

"Hello," Viper says. Laurel glares at her. She opens her mouth to unleash her scream when Viper whips out some device and turns it on. As Laurel tries to scream, she's alarmed to realize she can't.

"Sorry. But you're coming with us," Viper says. Several of her men then fire tranquilizers, and Laurel and Diggle collapse, unconscious.

* * *

(Half an hour later)

Two motorcycles race down the highway and come screeching to a halt next to the crash site. Bucky and Malcolm jump off them. "Laurel! John!" Bucky shouts.

"They're gone, Barnes!" Malcolm shouts at him.

"D*** it!" Bucky curses.

"They were taken alive. Focus!" Malcolm chastises him.

"Enough, Merlyn! I realize that!" Bucky shouts at him.

Bucky takes a few deep breaths. "This was Viper. Cutter, White, and Drake hit the safe house, so this had to be Viper and Evelyn Sharp," he says.

"Viper. Of course she would side with Chase," Malcolm mutters.

"You know her too?" Bucky says.

"Yes. The League has been aware of HYDRA since HYDRA's founding. Viper got on the wrong side of Baron Zemo, their leader, and got thrown out of the organization, but she took plenty of loyalists with her," Malcolm explains.

Bucky sighs, then says, "We need to get back to the bunker. All but one of Chase's lieutenants has shown up so far. We need to find Digger Harkness, and stop Chase from kidnapping any more innocent people."

"You're not gonna do it alone." The voice catches both of them off guard. Both whip towards the sound of the voice, and to their surprise see Vigilante walking through the trees.

Bucky whips out his pistol and aims it right at Vigilante's face. "Stop right there!" he shouts.

Vigilante slowly raises his hands. "I'm here to talk," he says.

"What would you want to talk to me about?" Bucky demands.

"Adrian Chase and his followers. I've already crossed them several times, and CHase tried to kill me. And, I have an interest in one of them," Vigilante responds.

"Who? And why?" Bucky demands.

Keeping his hands up, Vigilante slowly reaches down just a bit and removes his mask, revealing a the face of very scarred man that somehow seems familiar to Bucky.

"Who are you?" Bucky demands.

Vigilante looks at him for a moment before replying, "My name is Vincent Sobel. One of Chase's lieutenants, Dinah Drake, is my old partner from my police days...and my former lover. She got into a revenge quest to kill the men she thought had killed me, and it was thanks to that quest that Chase was able to influence her to join him. I want to stop Chase once and for all, and hopefully get Dinah back."

Bucky looks at Vincent skeptically. "How are we supposed to believe you?" he demands.

"I could've just shot you without revealing myself. In any case, I'd say you can't afford not to believe me. You're gonna need all the help you can get," Vincent responds.

Bucky stares at Vincent for several seconds before lowering his gun. "Alright. But, the moment you give me a reason, I'll put a bullet in you,"

"Fair enough," Vincent responds.

Suddenly, Bucky's phone starts to rin. He pulls it out and is confused to see it's a blocked number. Answering the call, his screen is quickly taken over by a video of a young boy.

"Hello. Help me. Please help me," the boy says, his voice shaking with fear.

Bucky looks down at the phone, trying to place the boy's face. Then, with a jolt, he recognizes him from one of the paper files in the bunker. Oliver's son. William.

"S***!" Bucky curses under his breath. He then looks up at Malcolm and Vincent, and says, "We've got a problem. Chase has had Oliver's son William kidnapped."

Vincent looks a little confused, but Malcolm just looks mildly concerned. And right at that moment, Bucky's phone rings again. Looking at it, he sees it's Lyla. He quickly answers, and says, "Lyla, now is not a good time. John and Laurel have been kidnapped, and has Oliver's son. So, I'm in a bit of bind right now."

"John's been taken?" Lyla cries out in concern.

"Yes, and I need to get to work on trying to find him and the others," Bucky responds.

"Before you do, I have even more bad news. A raid just hit the prison in Missouri where we've been keeping Chase. It was led by Digger Harkness, and it hit right when we were about to transfer him to our maximum security prison in New York. I'm sorry, Bucky, but Chase is free, and he and Harkness are head back west," Lyla says.

Bucky's eyes widen. He curses under his breath and says, "Thanks for that info, Lyla. Stay airborne. And I promise I'll get John back to you."

"Good luck, Bucky," she replies before hanging up.

Bucky lowers his phone and looks at Malcolm and Vincent. "We're in trouble. Digger Harkness just freed Chase. We need to get back to the bunker now so we can try and track him," Bucky says urgently.

Malcolm and Vincent both look concerned. "Come on!" Bucky shouts as he runs to his motorcycle. Malcolm follows and jumps on his, and Vincent retrieves a stolen motorcycle he had used to get there, and the three take off for the bunker.

* * *

(Bunker)

Bucky types a few keys to pull up a display as Malcolm and Vincent look on.

"So, Chase and Harkness stole an ARGUS transport plane. They flew from Missouri to an airfield in Dawn Valley airfield, refuelled, then took off on a westerly heading," Bucky explains.

"That would would take him back to Star City. Chase has to be smarter than that," Vincent says in a low voice.

"I'm trying to track this plane. Not as easy without Felicity, but thanks to her, I have access to a Keyhole satellite that can track the heat signature of any aircraft in the world," Bucky explains.

"Impressive," Malcolm mutters.

Suddenly, an alarm sounds. Malcolm looks down at another display, then looks at Bucky. "Are you expecting anybody else?"

"Yes. Because Chase is working with at least Evelyn Sharp, Carrie Cutter, China White, Dinah Drake, Digger Harkness, Viper, and whatever army Viper's currently controlling. The three of us are not enough," Bucky replies.

Malcolm chuckles as he says, "So, you called in reinforcements. If I wasn't such a confident individual, my ego might be bruised."

"You didn't have a problem with Vincent over here joining up. And if you have a problem with reinforcements, you're gonna have to really cut your ego down to size," Bucky says.

Before Malcolm can respond, the elevator doors open. And out walks a familiar face to Malcolm, and a face Bucky has come to know after reviewing Oliver's old files.

"Welcome back, Mr. Harper," Bucky says. And Roy grins back at him.

"Your idea of reinforcements?" Malcolm asks skeptically.

"He was trained by Oliver. He's gonna do fine," Bucky says with a grin.

Roy walks up onto the platform and up to Bucky. He extends his hand, saying, "I'm glad you called me in."

"I'm just glad I was able to find you," Bucky says.

Suddenly, there's a beeping from the computer. Bucky walks over to it and looks down. "We have Chase's C-130. Flew out over the coast, banked south 12 degrees and…" he says, but trails off as he sees where the course of the plane is headed.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Bucky says.

"What is it?" Malcolm asks.

"Bucky turns to look at his three allies, and says, "I know where's taking them." He pauses for a moment, then picks up his phone and calls Lyla.

As soon as Lyla picks up, Bucky says, "Lyla, I need you to call your people. I need a floatplane in Star City. NOW!"

"Where do you need to go?" Lyla asks.

"Lian Yu. That's where Chase has taken everybody," Bucky explains.

"Alright. I'll have one there soon. Meet them at the Star City docks in an hour," Lyla says before hanging up.

(Plane over the Pacific Ocean)

"So why would Chase bring everybody here?" Vincent asks as Bucky pilots the plane.

"For that matter, how does he even know about this place?" Malcolm asks.

"Well, Oliver's rescue was all over the news. Plus, he's had plenty of time to research Oliver, and Viper seems to know Oliver, so she probably helped him," Bucky explains.

"I've kinda always wanted to see this place," Roy muses. Bucky kinda smiles at that as he begins their descent towards Lian Yu.

* * *

(Jungle on Lian Yu)

Laurel grunts as she's knocked to the ground. A second later, the bag on her head is ripped off, revealing that she's surrounded by Viper's men, and chained alongside Quentin, Thea, John, and Felicity.

"Ugh. Where are we?" she asks.

"I don't know. Little north of pissed off, though," Quentin says.

"Rene and Curtis, where are they?" Thea asks.

Suddenly, from out of the corner of their eyes, Chase appears, followed by Dinah and Evelyn. "Calm down. Relax. Enjoy the weather," Chase says mockingly.

"Why did you bring us here?" Thea demands.

"So you recognize this place. That's good," Chase says with a chuckle. He looks at them for another moment before he turns to walk away.

Trying to keep up the charade that Oliver has returned, Thea looks after Chase and shouts, "Oliver is gonna come for us!"

"Yeah, I'm counting on it, sis," Chase calls back as most of the men walk away with him, Dinah, and Evelyn.

Thea leans over to the others and says, "He still thinks Oliver is back."

"Yeah, how's that supposed to help us?" Quentin asks.

"Don't worry. Bucky will save us," Laurel says confidently.

"Yeah? He's on his own. How's he supposed to save us?" Quentin asks.

"He's faced worse odds," Laurel says.

"Yeah. But with the help of Captain America and his friends from that other Earth," Diggle says.

"He can't do this on his own," Felicity adds. However, Laurel just looks ahead with determination, knowing Bucky is gonna figure it out.

* * *

(ARGUS Lian Yu Prison)

Bucky slowly opens the door and walks in, carrying a large duffel bag. He sets it down and walks towards the door of the cell. For a moment, he stands there, then sighs, before saying, "I need your help."

In the cell, Slade Wilson turns and looks up at Bucky. And just like the last time someone unfamiliar entered the prison, he asks, "Who the h*** are you?"

* * *

 **And, I'll end there.**

 **I know that was super long, but I wanted to get through all of it.**

 **I hoped you liked my changes. I decided to keep Malcolm because I didn't have any other idea of who to replace him. And Roy, I just decided it was time to bring him into the MACU. As for Vigilante, well, I've always wished he played a more prominent role, and that he spent more than a few brief scenes truly on the good side. I felt this was the chance to actually let him do some good, and his coming into the mix will have an effect on Dinah.**

 **I really hope you liked this chapter. Next chapters will go over the battle on Lian Yu. I hope you're excited.**

 **Until the next update, please review and let me know what thought of this chapter, and stay tuned for the next one!**


	22. Chapter 22- Lian Yu

**Alright. Here we go. We are finally getting into the final battle with Chase on Lian Yu. I hope you guys are as excited about it as I am.**

 **I am planning on the general plot of the fight being the same, but with some differences. I hope you like how it works out.**

 **Also, just a quick note. I am starting my final exams of my first semester in college, so I'm gonna be spending most of the next week studying. So, there may not be another chapter for a week or so.**

* * *

Chapter 22- Lian Yu

Slade slowly stands up from his cot and looks right at Bucky. "Would you care to explain who you are and what's going on?" Slade asks.

"I need your help," Bucky says simply as he moves forward and unlocks Slade's cell.

"What the h*** is going on here?" a guard demands as he walks into the room.

Bucky turns to face the guard. "We have a problem and I need you to get off the island," he says.

"I'm not going anywhere. And neither is he," the guard says, gesturing towards Slade with his head.

"I'm taking him, whether you like it or not. There is an ARGUS supply boat that is docked on the eastern shore. You take it and you go," Bucky says firmly.

"I'm not abandoning my post," the guard says firmly.

"Suit yourself," Bucky responds before punching the guard in the face, knocking him back down the hallway he came from. He turns back around to see Slade closing the door of his cell behind him.

Slade waits for a moment before he turns and looks right at Bucky. "Would you like to explain what's fully going on? And who you are?"

"My name is Bucky Barnes, also known as the Winter Soldier. I'm a friend of Oliver Queen and his friends. And I'm here on Lian Yu because there is a man named Adrian Chase on this island who has kidnapped all of Oliver's friends and family, including his son, and is determined to completely destroy Oliver. Oliver is missing right now, but I'm here to stop Chase and save Oliver's friends and family. But Chase and his followers are too numerous. We need your help," Bucky says.

"You're the Winter Soldier?" Slade asks, cautious.

"Yes, but not the one the one you're thinking of. But, I'm virtually his clone, but set on the straight and narrow. Now, as I said. Me and my allies are outnumbered. We need your help, Slade. And I'm not asking you to do it for free," Bucky says. He then holds out a USB drive and says, "I was able to gather intelligence on your son, Joe, including his present whereabouts, and it's all on this drive."

Slade looks down at it, surprised, then up at Bucky. "You are willing to help my find my son?" he asks.

"Yes. Now, are you in or not?" Bucky asks as he walks back to the duffel bag he brought into the prison. Opening it up, he pulls out the orange and black helmet Slade hasn't seen in a long time and holds it out to him.

Slade looks at it for a moment, hesitating, then takes the helmet. He looks up at Bucky, then says, "Alright, Barnes. Let's see how good you are compared to the kid."

Outside the prison, Roy, Malcolm, and Vincent are offloading supplies from the plane. Roy sets down a chest and looks up at Malcolm. "You know, I still haven't forgiven you for what you did to Thea. And I never will," he says.

Malcolm looks down at Roy with a bit of contempt. "I expected no less from you, Roy. And trust me, this alliance is not very enjoyable to me either," he says simply.

Vincent looks over at the two of them as they glare at each other, shaking his head a little bit. He's been a little hesitant to do this himself, but he knows strife like this can rend their alliance apart when they need it badly.

Crunching of rocks draws their attention. They all look down the beach and see Bucky, now in his Winter Soldier uniform, minus the goggles and face-mask, and Slade, fully kitted up as Deathstroke, mask and all, walking towards them down the beach.

"Everything offloaded?" Bucky asks.

"Most of it. Most of the guns and ammo are still on the plane," Malcolm says before looking at Bucky and asking, "By the way, what do you need an RPG for?"

"Does he need a reason?" Vincent asks.

Bucky glances at Vincent for a split second before looking back at Malcolm and saying, "Well, Chase has Viper, an army of former HYDRA agents, Carrie Cutter, China White, Evelyn Sharp, Digger Harkness, and a metahuman. I have no interest in this being a fair fight."

Roy has been glaring sharply at Slade this whole time. "Is that why you released the monster from his cage?" he demands.

Slade simply looks at Roy. Bucky narrows his eyes a bit and asks, "If it's gonna be a problem for you to work with Slade, then we're gonna have a problem here."

Roy continues glaring at Slade for a few moments before saying, "Fine. I'll work with you. Doesn't mean I've forgiven you."

"And I don't expect you too. I did some things that are not easily forgivable, and some that are not forgivable at all. But I am willing to try and atone for those things," Slade says. Roy doesn't respond.

"Alright. Let's get the rest of the stuff off the plane," Bucky says, right before a loud hiss interrupts him. Everyone looks up to see an RPG projectile flying over the trees, and coming down right on the plane.

"Well. There goes the rest of our gear," Vincent says.

"And our ride home," Slade adds.

Bucky sighs. But, he knows that things are still looking well. And, there's other ways off this island.

* * *

(10 minutes later)

Bucky leads the team along a path above the ocean, a phone in his hand. "The RPG that took out the plane came from over there," he says, gesturing off to the left. He lifts up his phone and says, "And the call from Oliver's son originated west of here."

"Hostages could be in either place," Vincent says.

"Or neither. This is a large island," Slade says.

"Alright. Malcolm, Roy, check the RPG site and report anything you find. Once you've cleared the area, make your way back to us. Vincent, Slade, you're with me," Bucky says. Everyone nods, and the two groups split up.

Bucky leads Vincent and Slade through the forest, moving cautiously. After a few minutes, Bucky comes to a stop. Seeing him stop, Vincent and Slade hurry up to him.

"What is it?" Vincent asks.

"I see movement," he says, pointing forward to a few cages up ahead.

"Let's move," Bucky says, slowly moving towards the cages, Vincent and Slade keeping close behind him, Vincent slipping on his mask as they move.

Bucky leads them out of the trees, and the three slowly approach the cages, which contain Felicity, Thea, Curtis, and Samantha. As they do, Felicity sees them and cries out, "Bucky!"

"Keep your voice down," Slade says in a low voice.

"What the h*** is he doing here?" Thea demands.

"Why are they unguarded?" Slade asks.

"Because it's a trap," Vincent says.

Right at that moment, there's a rustling in the tree overhead, and Evelyn and Viper drop down from the tree, Evelyn with a pistol, and Viper with a whip in one hand and a pistol in the other. A moment later, Harkness comes walking out of the trees, a boomerang in both hands.

Bucky raises his pistols, but Viper laughs and says, "I would put those down if I were you, Bucky. Or, Oliver's son loses his mother."

Bucky glares, but slowly lowers his pistols.

"I thought he'd break you out, Slade. Now, I'm gonna give you a choice. You could stay with these losers. Or you could side with the winners. What's it gonna be, mate?" Harkness says, boomerangs at the ready.

Bucky and Vincent both eye Slade as he stares back at Harkness. After a few moments, Slade turns to Bucky, points at him, and says to Evelyn and Viper, "Put a gun to his head!" He then says to Bucky, "Sorry, Barnes. But there's no giving up to this guy."

"You SOB!" Vincent growls, raising his SCAR 16 and aiming it at Slade. However, both Harkness and Evelyn take aim at Vincent, and Harkness says, "I'd put the gun down if I were you."

"Put the gun down," Bucky says. Vincent looks at him hesitantly, then slowly lowers his assault rifle and sets it down and Bucky drops his pistols. Evelyn walks up to him, smugly smiling as she puts her pistol to his forehead.

"I assumed you'd want to be on the winning side," Harkness says confidently as he sidles up beside Slade, still watching Vincent.

"Assumption is the mother of all FAILURES!" Slade says, suddenly turning on Harkness and punching him in the face. Vincent leaps forward to help Slade as Bucky grabs Evelyn's hand and throws her to the ground. Viper raises her pistol and takes aim at Samantha. But, Bucky quickly yanks a pistol out and fires it from the hip. The bullet catches Viper in the arm, making her drop the gun.

Harkness tries to fight back, but facing both Slade and Vincent, he is quickly outmatched and thrown to the ground. He quickly scrambles back to his feet, and Viper throws down a smoke grenade. When the smoke clears, the two of them are gone.

Bucky, Slade, and Vincent scan the clearing for any sign of them. But they're gone. A few seconds later, Malcolm and Roy come racing into the clearing, bows at the ready, but lower them when they see their targets are gone.

Bucky growls. "Well. This is a slight setback," he says.

* * *

 **And, I'll end there.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter. Now, as I said at the start, I probably won't be able to write much for the week, as I'll be studying most of every day. But, I promise that as soon as my finals are done, I will get started on the next chapter.**

 **Until next time, please review and give me your feedback. And stay tuned!**


	23. Chapter 23- The Pieces are Moving

**Alright. Here we go with another chapter. I finished my final exams this morning, so I now I can write more.**

 **Hope you enjoy it. And sorry the chapter title is so bad.**

* * *

Chapter 23- The Pieces are Moving

As soon as it's clear that Harkness and Viper are gone, Slade, Bucky, and Vincent hurry to break the locks on the cages. It only takes a few moments before they are able to let the prisoners out.

Malcolm hurries up to Thea's cage as Thea is climbing out. "Are you okay?" he asks worriedly.

"Go to hell," Thea responds.

"I'll take that as a yes," Malcolm says sarcastically.

Vincent and Roy help the others out of their cages as Slade grabs Evelyn, pulls her over to the cages and puts her in one of them. As he locks the door, he says smugly,"You've been left behind. You should choose your friends more wisely."

After Slade locks Evelyn up, he joins the circle that has formed. Bucky looks around at everybody and asks, "Where is everyone else?"

"I don't know. Chase split us up into groups when we got here," Curtis explains.

Felicity takes a step forward, points to Slade, and asks Bucky fiercely, "We are gonna talk about that, right?"

"Maybe later. My choices in allies should be the least of your concerns right now," Bucky says before he turns around to face Evelyn. "Where are they?" he demands.

"I wish I knew. So I could tell you to go screw yourselves," Evelyn responds snidely.

"Why did Chase split up the hostages?" Vincent demands harshly.

"Why does Chase do anything? So far, he hasn't laid out a single hoop any of you could keep yourselves from jumping through. Maybe leaving me here was part of the plan," Evelyn responds. Vincent grips his gun tightly, very tempted to blow her brains out.

Bucky turns back to the group and asks, "How'd Chase get you here? Was it a plane?" Curtis nods in response.

"Do you think you could find your way back to it?" he asks.

"Yeah, probably, but…" Curtis replies, but Bucky cuts him off as he turns to Malcolm and asks, "Malcolm, can you fly a plane?"

"If it's anything like the 3 Gulfstreams I used to have, yes," Malcolm replies as if he's been insulted.

"Get them to the mainland and then come back for the rest of us," Bucky orders. Malcolm nods, but the rest of the group doesn't agree with that statement.

"We are not leaving you here," Felicity protests.

"I need you all off this island since I can focus," Bucky replies. He then turns to Evelyn and says, "And despite my better instincts, when this is all over, I will come back for you."

"When this is all over, you'll all be dead," Evelyn snaps.

Right then, Thea walks up to Bucky and asks, "Can I talk to you for a moment?" Bucky sighs, but walks a short distance away with you

As they get away from the group, Thea demands, "Ok, what the h*** are you doing?"

"What?" Bucky asks in a confused tone, though he has a pretty good idea what this is about.

"I mean Malcolm Merlyn and Slade Wilson! Me and my brother are orphans because of those two. And you're working with Vigilante? We've been fighting against him for months!" Thea responds angrily.

"I need as many allies as I can get. I know working with those three is less than ideal. But Malcolm wouldn't give up anyway, I think Slade can be trusted now, and Vigilante has a connection one of Chase's lieutenants. Like it or not, we need them, Thea. And before you protest me sending you and Curtis away, I need you to make sure Felicity and Samantha are safe, and make sure Samantha gets off this island," Bucky says.

Thea just stands there, looking like she wants to argue. FInally, she just sighs and nods. Bucky lays a comforting hand on her shoulder and says, "Don't worry. This will all work out." He then leads her back to the group.

As they approach the group, Vincent speaks up and says, "Viper and Harkness ran off into the forest. I think my visor's systems may be able to track their trail."

"They might lead us back to the rest of the hostages," Slade adds.

"They're our friends, and we don't need your help," Felicity says angrily to Slade.

"That's my call to make, Felicity, not yours. I'm in command here, and Slade is coming with us," Bucky says sharply. Felicity looks like she wants to argue, but knows that, unlike Oliver, Bucky is not someone she can win an argument with.

Bucky then hands a comm unit to Curtis, and a tablet to Felicity. "Just in case you need them," he says calmly, before turning to Slade, Vincent, and Roy, and says, "Let's move out."

The two groups separate and move off in separate directions. However, before he follows Bucky, Roy runs over to Thea. "Thea," he calls to get her attention.

She turns to him as he runs up to her. "Thea, I know I don't really have time to talk right now. But, I just want you to know I still love you," Roy says. He then gives her a quick kiss before running off to join Bucky. Thea just stares after him before she turns to follow Curtis and the others into the jungle.

* * *

(The monastery)

Laurel and Quentin struggle against their bonds as Dinah and some of Viper's men lead them down a passage in the monastery.

"Nice place," Quentin snidely comments.

"Before the Chinese turned Lian Yu into a prison, it was a holy retreat. This monastery is one of the places that monks left behind," Dinah says.

"Now you're using for a guy you barely know on a guy you barely know. You, a former cop," Laurel says snidely.

"Adrian Chase helped me see who I was, and finally get revenge on my partner's killer. I don't owe Oliver Queen a thing, and I think he's the true menace here," DInah says.

She leads them around a corner and into a room, where they can see Rene and Diggle struggling against their chains.

"Laurel! Quentin!" Diggle calls to them as he spots them.

"Hoss, you OK?" Rene asks Quentin.

"Alright, everyone. Calm down. The four of you will have plenty of time to catch up with each other," DInah says before smirking at them and walking away while Viper's men chain them to the ring on the floor and follow Dinah.

"I'm assuming you can't use your cry?" Diggle asks.

"They had a sonic dampener trained on me on the walk in. And I'm guessing that's another one," Laurel says, gesturing to a device hanging on the wall out of reach.

"Well, we got to get out of here," Rene says.

"Don't worry. Bucky will find us. I know it," Laurel says confidently.

* * *

(The forest)

Bucky follows behind Vincent, Slade and Roy bringing up the rear. It turns out that Vincent was right about his visor. The advanced systems he had built into it were able to pick up on the trail that Viper and Harkness left behind as they fled.

As Bucky follows behind Vincent, Slade slowly walks up beside him. "So, Barnes. You told me you're a friend of Oliver's and his friends. You never told me how."

Bucky keeps walking for a moment, then says, "I don't know if you've ever heard of the multiverse theory. But it's not a theory. It's fact. There are multiple different versions of Earth. They exist in the same place in space, but vibrate at a different frequency, so they can't see each other. I come from one of those other Earths. I came to this Earth months ago, and I found a home in Star City. I befriended Oliver's family and friends, but by then, Oliver had disappeared. So, I'm sorry that I lied about being Oliver's friend, but I am trying to fill his shoes as Star City's protector. And I refuse to let Adrian Chase destroy Oliver and his reputation."

Bucky half expects Slade to turn on him then and there, or to just leave them. However, Slade just examines him for a few moments. Then, he says, "I don't blame you. Your situation is a desperate one. But, your confession isn't going to sway me. I already betrayed Oliver once. And this is one way I can begin to atone for that mistake."

Bucky looks at Slade for a moment, then smiles a bit. "Thank you, Slade.," he says.

Right then, Vincent stops and turns around to face the other three. "I think I know where they're going," he says, holding out a pair of binoculars. Bucky walks up, takes the binoculars, and looks in the direction Vincent is pointing. After looking around a second, he finally spots what Vincent was talking about. An old monastery built on the side of a hill.

"There we go," Bucky whispers to himself. He then looks at everyone else. "That's where they're gonna be. Unfortunately, that's where Chase is gonna have all his followers," he says.

"How are we gonna get in there with just the four of us?" Roy asks.

"Well, our first goal is to free our friends. Then, it'll be the eight of us," Bucky says. Right then, his phone rings. He quickly answers it and asks, "Hey, Lyla. What's up?" After a moment, he smiles and says, "Alright. Thanks." He quickly hangs up and looks back at his three allies.

"That was Lyla. We have some reinforcements on the way. In the meantime, let's go rescue my friends," Bucky says. Slade, Vincent, and Roy all nod.

"Alright. Let's go," Bucky says before dashing off into the forest.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island, the others are all headed towards the spot where the plane is, with Curtis leading the way. As they do, Malcolm sidles up next to Thea. "You know, I'd think that coming halfway across the world to rescue you would at least entitle me to a conversation."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't," Thea snaps.

"Has it ever occured to you that I do the things I do because I'm your father?" Malcolm asks.

"No, you're not. We are nothing to each other. Don't you ever understand that?" Thea demands angrily, but is quickly cut off by the sound of a click as she sets her foot down.

Everyone goes still, then whips around to look at Thea. After a few moments, Curtis asks, "Thea, are you okay?"

"No, she's not. She just activated a landmine," Malcolm says. After another moments, he drops to his knees,saying in a low voice, "Stay still." He bends down lower and starts digging away at the dirt under Thea's foot.

After a few moments, Malcolm looks back up at her and says, "The trigger's rusted over."

Thea gulps slightly before hesitantly asking, "That-that's good, right?"

"No, that's really bad news. It means we can't disarm it," Curtis says grimly.

"Well, someone needs to do something fast," Samantha says.

"Thea, on the count of three, take your foot off the mine," Malcolm orders.

"No, that'll blow us all up!" Felicity protests.

"I'm gonna take her place," Malcolm says reassuringly. It is not reassuring in the slightest.

"That's crazy!" Samantha protests.

"Yeah, you're not the first person to call him that," Felicity adds.

"I'll just find a boulder around here or something," Curtis suggests.

"No! We don't have that kind of time!" Malcolm says loudly before he turns to Thea and says, "Thea, you need to do it."

"No! No one is doing this, okay!" Thea insists.

"Okay! Okay!" Malcolm says in a placating tone. "It's okay. I forgot how stubborn you could be," he says with a chuckle. Then, he surges forward and shoves Thea off the mine, planting his foot on the trigger to stop it going off.

Malcolm takes a few deep breaths before looking at Thea and saying, "Thank you for reminding me."

"What the h*** are you doing?" Thea demands.

"I'm gonna take care of the guys following us, disarm the mine, and then I'll catch up with you," Malcolm says.

"Yeah, and how are you gonna do that with one foot planted on the mine?" Felicity demands.

"He's not going to," Thea says in realization.

There's a moment of silence before Thea says, "Look, if you're trying to prove something to me, you don't need to. Okay. You proved it!"

"I'm not trying to prove anything. From the moment you were born, all I ever wanted was to protect you," Malcolm replies.

Thea stares at him for a few moments before saying, "Don't do this, okay?"

Malcolm looks at Thea for another moment before saying, "You may not think of me as your father, Thea. But you'll always be my daughter."

There is silence for a moment. Then, the sound of gunshots breaks the silence. They all turn to see a squad of Viper's men racing towards them.

"Go, now. Go!" Malcolm shouts. Thea tries to protest, but Curtis grabs her and pulls her away.

Malcolm stands completely still as the fallen HYDRA agents approach. One jogs up to him and chuckles. "Well, you're stupid just standing there out in the open," he says.

Malcolm chuckles, then says,"Let me show you why."

Suddenly, before Malcolm can even do anything, there's a flash of lightning, and Viper's men all collapse. Then, there's another flash of lightning, and suddenly Malcolm is standing right in front of Thea and the others as they are running away. Right at that moment, the mine goes off. Thea and the others are shocked to see Malcolm standing in front of them.

"Malcolm? How did-" Felicity starts to ask, but she's cut off when Barry suddenly flashes into the middle of them.

"Hey, guys," he says cheerfully.

"Barry!" Felicity says in surprise.

"Yup, it's me. Bucky called for reinforcements. I came to get you guys to the plane, and Kid Flash is searching the island for William," Barry says, careful not to reveal Wally's identity as Kid Flash to Malcolm Merlyn.

"Alright. Let's get to the plane," Malcolm says, having recovered from his first experience being run somewhere by a speedster.

"I'll cover you guys," Barry says, speeding off into the forest to check for any more of Viper's men, while Curtis continues to lead them in the direction of the plane.

* * *

(The monastery)

Bucky slowly walks into the monastery, Vincent, Slade, and Roy following him close behind.

"Alright. Is it working, Vincent?" Bucky asks.

"Yeah. I'm finally picking up the trackers you put in Laurel and Diggle. They're in the east wing of the monastery," he says.

"Should we split up?" Slade asks.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Roy says, in part because he still doesn't trust Slade.

"You're probably right about that." The voice catches them all off guard, and they whip to their right just in time to see Harkness step out from behind a pillar, a boomerang in each hand. Two of Viper's men come out right behind him.

"You're not going anywhere," he says arrogantly.

There's a moment of silence, then Vincent steps forward. "Go," he says calmly.

"Are you sure?" Bucky asks.

"Don't worry. I've got this," Vincent replies as he draws two large fighting knives.

"I'll help him. You two go," Roy says as he steps forward, ready to fight.

"Alright. See you guys later," Bucky says before he and Slade duck away to go find Laurel and the others.

"That was a stupid move. Now, you die," Harkness says before he throws his boomerangs. Vincent deflects them with his knives and rushes Harkness as Roy rushes to meet Viper's two guys.

* * *

(Elsewhere on the island, same time)

As the battle in the monastery begins, Thea and the others have finally found the plane.

"Alright. Everybody got on board, and once I've figured this out, we'll get out of here," Malcolm says confidently, knowing he'll need a few minutes to familiarize himself with a C-130.

Then, there's the familiar lightning sound, and they hear Barry call out from behind some crates, "Guys, we've got a problem!"

Everyone rushes over to where Barry's voice came from, and find him digging up some dirt with his hands. "What is it?" Curtis asks.

"Antennas," Barry says as he keeps digging. A second later, he uncovers something that is familiar to all of them.

"And that's C-4," Thea identifies the block under the antennas.

"Those are way too many antennas for a remote trigger. They must be networked," Curtis says as Felicity types furiously on her tablet.

"Great, so there's more than one," Thea groans.

"Yeah, you could say that," Felicity says with dread as her screen shows that the island is covered in similar charges.

"Wait, there's hundreds of them," Samantha gasps.

"That's way too many to defuse," Barry says. Everyone looks around at each other.

"Malcolm, get that plane ready. Felicity, try and contact Bucky," Barry says. Malcolm nods and rushes towards the C-130 as Felicity tries to contact Bucky, knowing right now that every second counts.

* * *

 **And, I'll end there.**

 **I hope this chapter was okay. I know some of you may be upset I didn't kill Malcolm. But, I may yet use him, and I figured it would be a good time to introduce Barry into this fight.**

 **The outcome of the fight between Vigilante and Captain Boomerang will be shown during the next chapter, though I'm sure you can guess how it ends.**

 **Now that my finals are done, I have a lot more free time. So, I will try and get the next chapter up by tomorrow. I want to try and finish this story before I see Endgame (which I'm currently planning for Saturday, and am beyond excited for!)**

 **I'll say no more now, except to ask you to please review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter, and stay tuned!**


	24. Chapter 24- The Defenders Reassemble

**Alright. Here we go. This is the last chapter of the final battle with Chase.**

 **I chose this chapter title because this is what I promised in Worlds Collide, Heroes Clash. The Defenders are reassembling. Well, except for Jesse, as she's still back in Earth-2. But all the rest of the Defenders are gonna be making appearances here on Lian Yu, and they'll all have roles to play in this final battle.**

 **Let's get to it.**

* * *

Chapter 24- The Defenders Reassemble

Bucky and Slade race through the halls of the monastery, knowing they have to find Laurel and the others before Chase finds them.

After a minute, they race around a corner, and they see Rene, Diggle, Quentin, and Laurel all chained to a ring on the ground.

"Bucky!" Laurel cries in relief. However, Quentin and Diggle are more concerned with Bucky's partner.

"Slade!" Diggle growls.

"Easy, guys. The Mirakuru wore off. He's on our side now," Bucky explains calmly.

Slade looks at Diggle and Quentin and says, "I know I've done terrible things, and for that, I am sorry. But like Barnes said, I'm on your side now." Both Diggle and Quentin look hesitant to believe him, but know they don't really have a choice now.

"Alright. Let's get you out of here. Felicity handed me this before we sent them off. SOmething she and Curtis were working on," Bucky says as he pulls out the sound modulators Felicity had at his surprise party and hands them to Laurel. "They'll bypass the sonic dampener and focus your cry," he explains.

"Yes! Remind me to give them both hugs!" Laurel says with a big grin as she puts the modulators around her neck. She gives everybody a quick look and says, "Cover your ears."

Everybody quickly covers their ears, and Laurel unleashes her cry, easily shattering the chains binding her and the others to the ground.

"Alright. We got to move. Barry's getting everyone else to Chase's plane, and Kid Flash is looking for Oliver's son," Bucky explains.

"Wait. Chase took William?" Diggle asks in shock.

"Yeah. And for now, we need to leave finding him to Kid Flash. We need to take care of Chase and the rest of his lieutenants," Bucky says. Diggle nods.

"Alright. Let's move," Bucky says, and he leads them out of the room.

"We find Chase, we hopefully find William," Bucky says.

"Yeah, not so sure about that, Hoss," Rene says as up ahead of them, Chase stalks into the room, drawing his sword from his back. Following behind him are Dinah, Carrie Cutter, China White, Viper, and the rest of Viper's men.

Chase looks smugly at Bucky and says, "Hey, Bucky. Welcome to Purgatory."

The two sides stare each other down for several moments. Then, Bucky demands fiercely, "Where is William Clayton?"

"Ah, your buddy Oliver put you up to this. Tell me, where is he? If he's the devoted father I think he is, why isn't he here?" Chase asks.

"That's not your concern. But to satisfy your curiosity, he thinks I am more than capable of stopping you. And he's right. You have no idea what I've done in my past, and what I'm capable of. So try as you might. You're never gonna get to Oliver Queen again," Bucky says confidently.

Chase shakes his head a little and says, "Never say never."

Right then, the window smashes as an arrow flies down and lands behind Viper's men, who are gathered behind Chase, Dinah, Viper, Cutter, and White. A second later, it explodes, knocking them all off their feet and killing a few of Viper's men from the shrapnel.

Bucky and everyone on Team Arrow looks up to the window, right as Clint, dressed in his new Hawkeye uniform, swings through the window. He lands on one knee, springs to his feet, twirls his bow in hand, then smiles. "Let's get this started," he says before rushing right towards Viper. Two of Viper's men try to stop him, but he easily knocks them out of the way and leaps right at Viper. Viper jumps back to give herself a second to recover herself, then draws two small batons strapped to her legs and strikes back at Clint. Clint strikes at her with his bow, and the two begin fighting fiercely. At the same time, Vincent and Roy race into the room, weapons at the ready.

With the distraction caused by Clint's explosive arrow, the rest of the team attacks. Slade, Rene, Vincent, and Quentin all hurry to attack Viper's men. Laurel races forward and attacks Dinah, while Diggle lunges for China White. FInally, Roy and Carrie Cutter start shooting at each other as they race to attack each other at close range.

Meanwhile, Chase gets back to his feet, and glares at Bucky. "You may have friends, Bucky. But you can't stop me. I'll kill you here and now, and then I will find Queen and break him!" Chase shouts, the look of insanity in his eyes growing ever greater.

"I don't think so," Bucky says firmly, and he rushes at Chase. Chase swings with his sword, but Bucky blocks it with his cybernetic arm. The two begin exchanging blows almost faster than the others can follow. Not that they're paying much attention.

Roy and Cutter keep exchanging blows, alternating between using their bows and their fists. After a minute, they end up in a standstill, both bows pressing against the other.

"I remember you. The Arrow's old sidekick. I took out you too easily last time I saw you," Cutter says.

"I know. And I've gotten much better since then," Roy says in his disguised voice. He then lifts his foot up and kicks Cutter in the knee. Cutter stumbles, and Roy uses the chance to force her bow out of her hand, then jumping up and kicking her in the head, knocking her out.

Meanwhile, in a hall off the main chamber, Laurel and DInah are fighting tooth and nail with each other. Laurel finds herself extremely grateful that Bucky trained her so much in hand to hand. Otherwise, she may not be able to stand against Dinah.

The two keep exchanging blows until Laurel finally manages to get in a good hit and knock DInah down. Dinah looks up in anger, and Laurel knows what's coming. She opens her mouth at the same time Dinah does, and the two unleash their cries at the same time The collision from the two cries sends both of them flying back. Laurel ends up getting knocked into some shelves, while Dinah ends up crashing into some steps.

Laurel groans as she tries to recover her senses. Dinah, however, struggles to her feet quickly and stalks towards Laurel. "You thought you could beat me? You will never measure up to me! I am better than you will ever be!" Dinah shouts. Suddenly, before she can unleash her cry again, something grabs her wrist. She turns to her right, and sees Vincent standing there, still with his mask on.

She glares at him and his about to unleash her cry when he shouts, "Enough, Dinah!" And with that, he yanks his mask off, revealing his face to her.

Dinah's eyes widen, stunned into silence. It takes a moment before she's able to splutter, "Vinnie? Is that you?"

"Yes. It is, Dinah. I survived the bullet, thanks to that particle accelerator explosion. And frankly, I am disappointed in you. I can understand wanting revenge for me and killing Sonus. But singing on with someone like Chase?! Dinah, what has happened to you?! You're not the woman I loved!" Vincent says angrily.

Dinah looks like she doesn't know what to say. After a few moments, Vincent sighs and says, "We'll talk about this later." He then grabs a syringe with a sedative in it and jabs it into her arm. In seconds, Dinah is unconscious.

Vincent turns towards Laurel, then walks over to her and helps her up. "Thanks," laurel says simply. She then looks him over and asks, "What took you so long to get here?"

"Digger Harkness. He and two of Viper's men held me and Roy Harper up. Harper took care of Viper's goons, and I killed Harkness," Vincent says simply. Laurel just nods in response before they turn and run back into the main room.

As they do, Diggle is still fighting China White. He manages to dodge a slash from one of White's knives, then grabs her wrist to stop her from doing it again.

"You've gotten in my way too many times, John Diggle. I'm going to be so happy to finally put you in a grave," White says.

"And you've threatened me and my loved ones a time too many," Diggle says.

White smiles before getting in a cheap shot and knocking him onto his back. She raises her knife and prepares to strike. Until a blade sprouts from her chest. She gasps, and looks down at the blade. Then, it's withdrawn, and White collapses to the ground, lifeless. And Diggle sees Slade standing behind her, his sword bloodied.

Diggle just looks at him for a few moments. Finally, he says, "Thanks, Slade."

Slade nods as he extends his hand. Diggle accepts it and lets Slade help him back to his feet.

As he does, across the room, Clint gets under Viper's guard and manages to knock one of her batons out of her hand. He then blocks her other baton with his bow. For a moment, they struggle against each other. Then, Clint smirks, and says, "Nighty-night, snake." He then draws a sedative tipped arrow out of his quiver and stabs it into VIper's leg. Viper cries out in pain, but the sedative overwhelms her in seconds, and she collapses.

As Clint stands triumphantly over Viper, the rest of the team finishes off the rest of Viper's men, leaving just Bucky and Chase still fighting. Everyone stands and watches them for a few moments before Bucky finally manages to get under Chase's guard for a split second and delivers a punch from his cybernetic arm powerful enough to not only knock Chase flying back into the wall, but also break two of his ribs.

Bucky stalks over to Chase, his face a mask of no emotion. "I'm gonna ask you again, Chase. Where is William Clayton?" he demands.

Chase chuckles a little bit. Then, he says mockingly, "I knew we'd come to this. William is dead, Barnes."

Everything goes quiet. Everyone starts at Chase, not wanting to accept that.

Bucky, however, glares at Chase. "If that is true, then you will pay for it" He reaches for his pistol, but right then, Barry races into the room.

"STOP!" he yells as he sees Bucky pulling out his pistol. Bucky stops, and everyone turns to Barry.

"Barry? What is it?" Bucky demands.

"Chase has wired the entire island with explosives. And Felicity just figured out they're linked to a dead man's switch. He wants you to kill him so the island blows up and kills us all," Barry explains.

A chill runs down Bucky's spine. A rustling behind him quickly catches his attention. He turns and sees Chase has regained his feet. He reaches into his jacket, and Bucky realizes what he's doing.

"Get down!" he shouts as Chase throws down the sphere he just drew out of his pocket. The sphere explodes in a blinding flash and a cloud of smoke, temporarily disorienting everybody.

Once the smoke clears, everybody looks up to see that Chase is gone. Right then, Wally races into the room too.

"I've searched just about everywhere. I haven't been able to find him," he says.

"We've got bigger problems. Barry, Wally, I need you to get everybody out of here. Unfortunately, that includes our unconscious enemies. Get them to the plane, and make sure you get them all off the island," Bucky orders.

"What about you, Bucky?" Clint asks.

"I'm going after him. He might lead me to WIlliam. But one way or another, Adrian Chase is not getting off this island," he says before he turns to race away.

"Wait!" Laurel cries out. Bucky turns back to face Laurel, and has just enough time to register her running up to him before she grabs his face, pulls him closer, and kisses him.

For a moment, he stands there stunned. When she pulls back, he looks at her and asks, "What was that for?"

With a hint of a tear in her eye, Laurel says softly, "Just in case something happens, I wanted you to know how I feel."

Bucky looks back at her silently for a moment, then smiles comfortingly. "I'll be okay. And we'll talk about this when we're off the island," he says. Then, he turns and runs out of the monastery, determined to find Chase.

Barry and Wally begin racing everybody to the plane one by one. At the same time, Bucky races through the woods. Thankfully, in his haste, Chase had left tracks for Bucky to follow. At the same time, Bucky knows that with Chase, he's probably left the tracks on purpose, luring Bucky after him.

It doesn't take him too long before he reaches the coastline, and finds himself next to a set of docks. And, with fury, he sees Chase standing on the aft section of a small motorboat. Chase looks back at him, smiling smugly, before he revs up the engine, and the boat begins to pull away from the dock.

Bucky races along the shore, leaping onto one of the docks to get closer. FInally, he's close enough to the boat, and leaps from the dock onto the front of the boat. He clambers over the roof covering the interior of the boat and leaping down on Chase, punching him in the head and knocking him down.

Bucky spins around, grabs Chase by the throat, lifts him into the air, and demands, "Where is William Clayton?!"

Chase just chuckles, so Bucky throws him to the ground. He ends up hitting the controls, and accidently pulling down the throttle, cutting the engine and slowing the boat to a stop.

* * *

(The plane)

Barry and Wally speed up, bringing Vincent and Dinah with them.

"Is that the last of them?" Thea asks.

"Yeah," Barry says. Everybody is there, including Viper, Cutter, and Evelyn, the three of whom are all tied up.

"Alright. Let's go!" Malcolm says, very impatient to get off the island.

"Actually, we're not going anywhere," Slade calls out. Everyone turns to him, as he holds a piece of machinery.

"I found this 10 feet from one of the wings. It's a crucial part of the plane's hydraulic systems. Without this, we'll never be able to maintain control of the plane," Slade says.

A chill runs down most everybody's spine. Samantha, now terrified for William, says, "I have to go find William!"

"No! You're staying with us. Bucky will find him. We need to get off the island," Roy says firmly.

"Somebody has to contact Bucky and let him know the situation," Barry says. Laurel reaches for a comms unit.

* * *

(The boat)

Bucky pins Chase to the ground, glaring down at him with absolute fury. "Where is William?!" he bellows before punching him several times. He then lifts Chase into the air again before throwing him into the ground again.

Suddenly, his comms crackle to life. "Bucky? Do you copy?" Laurel's voice calls over his earpiece.

"Yes, I copy. What is it?" Bucky demands.

"Chase sabotaged the plane. We can't use it," Laurel explains.

"There's an ARGUS supply boat docked on the eastern shore. Slade knows where it is, and Barry and Wally can get you all there," Bucky says.

"They'll never make it in time," Chase's voice says behind him. Bucky turns around, just in time to see Chase open the door leading below and pulling William out, putting him in a headlock.

Bucky growls and yanks one of his pistols out of its holster. "Let the kid go!" he bellows.

"Oh, don't posture. You won't shoot me when I've got him like this. You care too much about protecting innocents. Or do you?" Chase says with a smirk on his face. He pauses for a moment, then says, "If you kill me, everyone you care about that's on that island dies. But if you don't kill me, I kill him. And you have that death on your conscience, and you get to tell Oliver his son is dead."

Bucky glares at Chase with pure hate. "You SOB," he growls.

"William or everyone else?" Chase asks.

Bucky continues to glare at him for a few more moments. Then, he slowly lowers his pistol. Chase smirks triumphantly, not noticing Bucky's free hand slowly getting closer to his thigh. Then, right as his hand holding the pistol drops to his side, Bucky uses his free hand to yank another pistol from its holster, and in a movement so fast Chase couldn't hope to react, aims it at Chase and fires. The round hits Chase right in the knee and blowing out his kneecap and tendons. Chase collapses, unable to support himself with one leg, and giving Bucky the opportunity to pull William out of his grasp.

Bucky puts his hands on William's shoulders and bends down, suddenly anxious to make sure the boy is okay. "Hey, are you okay? Are you alright, William?" he asks. William nods, still very shaken.

Bucky gives him a hug, saying softly, "Don't worry, William. You're safe now. He's not gonna hurt you anymore. I'm gonna get you back to your mom."

He then slowly lets William go and says, "Don't look, William." WIlliam nods and tries not to look at Chase as Bucky steps away from him.

Bucky steps towards Chase as Chase is getting into a sitting position, then punches him in the face with a growl of "You SOB!" He then grabs Chase and puts him in a headlock.

Chase struggles against Bucky, but it is painfully clear which of them is stronger.

After a minute, Bucky's comms crackle to life again. "Bucky, it's Barry. We got everyone to the boat, and we cast off. We're clear," Barry says.

"Understood," Bucky replies. Then, he tightens his hold on Chase.

Bucky leans down so his mouth is next to Chase's ear. "Oliver Queen is still missing. That was me that apprehended you as the Green Arrow. Just wanted you to know," he says.

He pauses for a second, then says, "I know you're trying to prove to Oliver Queen that he's a killer. And I know, if he was here, he wouldn't kill you. But, I already know I'm a killer. You don't have to prove that to me. So, I have no qualms about doing this." He adjusts his grip on Chase, then says, "Have a nice trip to hell, Chase." And with that, and a powerful twist of his arms, he snaps Chase's neck.

A second later, he lets go and stands up, letting Chase's body fall to the ground. And right then, the explosions begin. Bomb after bomb detonates as Lian Yu begins to be eveloped in flames.

"Mom!" William calls out. Bucky steps up and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, buddy. The Flash showed up and got your mom everybody else off the island," Bucky says.

William looks up at Bucky. "He did?" he asks hopefully.

"Yeah. He did. Everyone's going to be fine," Bucky says.

He glances back at Chase's body, and feels a grim satisfaction flow through him. At last, Prometheus has been defeated.

* * *

 **And with that, the final battle comes to an end. I hope you enjoyed how I did this. I sure enjoyed writing it. This is actually my longest chapter so far.**

 **I hope you like I brought the Defenders back. Sure, Wally didn't do too much, but he still helped. Plus, I thought it would be nice to bring them all back (except Jesse), and to have Clint fight Viper.**

 **I decided to kill off Harkness and White because I have no further plans for them. I'm planning to use Cutter as a member of the Suicide Squad in the future, and Viper will play a role in the future of this series at some point.**

 **Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I had Bucky kill Chase. I found it simple. Bucky didn't have the same problem Oliver did. He wasn't the one being targeted by Prometheus for being a killer, and I think he would've had less of a problem killing Chase than Oliver did. Plus, I had no reason for Chase to stick around.**

 **As for Dinah and Vincent. I had always planned for Vincent to stop Dinah. In part because I want to use her in a hero capacity in the future, and Vincent turning her back was one way I liked. Now, after this story, we won't see them again for a while. But, they will be returning at some point. When, I'm not sure. Guess we'll have to wait and find out.**

 **Next chapter will be the final chapter, and it will wrap up most loose ends and bring this story to a close.**

 **Well, until the next chapter, please review and tell me what you thought of this one, and stay tuned!**


	25. Chapter 25- Victory

**Alright. We've come to it. The final chapter of the fourth story of the MACU.**

 **Before I get started, I wanted to make a quick notice. I have a new story up called Final Countdown: World at War. I am really excited by it. Go check it out.**

 **I have more to say, but it can wait until the end. For now, let's get to the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 25- Victory

"So, they're all in custody?" Bucky asks.

"Yes. Cutter. Viper. And Evelyn. The prison on Lian Yu survived the explosions, and Lyla thought it appropriate they spend the rest of their days on that island," Diggle reassures him.

"Good. And we have confirmation that all of Viper's men are dead?" Bucky says.

"Those on Lian Yu, anyways. There could be more of them, but Viper isn't sharing anything," Diggle says.

"That's still good. With Viper in ARGUS custody, any more of her men out there are leaderless," Laurel says.

"Not necessarily. But we'll talk about that later," Bucky says.

Bucky turns where Vincent is standing in the corner. Dinah is standing next to him, wearing a collar meant to suppress her powers. Bucky walks over to Vincent and extends his hand. "Thank you for your help, Vincent. It's greatly appreciated," he says.

Vincent takes the offered hand. "It was nice to fight alongside you, Barnes," he says.

Bucky nods, then turns to Dinah. "Why would you side with Chase, Ms. Drake?" he demands.

Dinah looks slightly ashamed. "I...I let myself get caught in his lies. He helped exact my revenge, and I was desperate to get back at Sonus for killing Vinnie and torturing me. After he helped me, I felt like I owed him. He painted Oliver Queen as this menace. I took the bait, and he eventually had me believing in him completely," she says in a low voice.

Bucky and Vincent both look at her for a moment before Vincent turns back to Bucky. "We're gonna leave Star City. I'm gonna take her someplace where nobody will know us. A place where she can heal from all this. And hopefully, we can restart things. And I know you'll be glad to have me off the streets," Vincent says, an air of humor in his last sentence.

"You were kind of right though, Vincent. We need to be a bit more aggressive. I don't agree with your methods of just executing people. But we can't hold back as much as we have," Bucky admits.

Vincent grins a bit. "Maybe we both learned something from each other," he says.

"Maybe. Take care of yourself, Vincent," Bucky says. Vincent nods, then leads Dinah out of the bunker.

"Well, how about it? We got the Defenders back together!" Barry says cheerfully. This draws chuckles from everybody still in the bunker.

"Yup. And it was nice to be working together again," Bucky says cheerfully.

Clint chuckles. "It was good to get out of Central City for a bit. And Viper was a more challenging opponent than anybody I've faced in Central City so far. Nice spat of exercise," he says a little cocky.

Bucky chuckles. "Thanks so much for your help, you guys. I don't know if we could've done this without you," he says.

"Of course. It was no problem. You can call us for help anytime," Barry says.

"Same here. You ever need us, give us a call," Bcuky says.

Barry nods before walking over and giving Bucky a hug. After releasing him, Barry says, "Well, we'd better be heading back Central City. Cisco and Caitlin can only hold down the fort for so long." And with a flash of lightning, he, Wally, and Clint are gone.

Bucky stares off into the distance for a few moments. THen, he turns to Diggle and asks, "And William and Samantha?"

"Lyla arranged a new home for them. They'll be under ARGUS protection, and they have new identities. But, through ARGUS you can contact them when you need to. And Samantha said to call her when Oliver gets back. She wants to talk to him about William," Diggle says. Bucky nods.

Then, Diggle asks, "So, you said Viper's men might not be leaderless? Why?"

Bucky looks at Diggle. "Because. Viper is former HYDRA, as are her men. There's a chance some of them may try and go back to HYDRA. Malcolm told me a bit about HYDRA. And it's clear to me now that their goals aren't that much different from the HYDRA on my Earth. So, even if we're gonna be here protecting Star City, we need to start working to track down HYDRA," Bucky explains.

Diggle takes a second to think, then nods. "Alright. If that's what you think, then we'll follow you," he says. Laurel and Rene both nod to that.

Bucky cracks a grin. "Thanks, guys. I'm not sure where to start, but I know with this team behind me, we can do it," he says confidently. Everyone smiles.

"No, if you'll give me a minute, I have to go say goodbye to Slade Wilson. I'll be upstairs if anyone needs me," Bucky says as he walks over to the elevator.

A few moments later, the doors open in the office on the ground level. Bucky steps out and sees Slade is waiting just a few feet from the doors.

There's silence for a few moments before Bucky says, "I had a chat with ARGUS. You're in the clear. They're gonna keep a very close eye on you, but so long as you don't cause trouble, you're free to go."

"Good. I've had enough of ARGUS for a lifetime," Slade says.

Bucky chuckles, then says, "Thank you for helping us out, Slade. Even though you didn't know me. I really owe you for that."

"I did what I needed to do. I have a lot to make up for. This was one step on that road," Slade says. He's quiet for a moment, then says, "You're a good man, Barnes. No matter your past. If you need a favor, give me a call."

"Will do," Bucky says. He then extends his hand, and Slade gladly takes it.

"Take care of yourself, Slade," Bucky says.

"Always do," Slade says before he turns and walks out of the office.

Bucky stares after him. Behind him, he hears the elevator doors open. A few moments later, he feels a hand take his, and he looks next to him to see Laurel, smiling at him.

"Thanks for having my back on Lian Yu," he says.

Laurel smiles broadly and says, "You came and saved me. What else was I supposed to do?"

Bucky chuckles, then his face grows more serious. "We need to talk, Laurel. About that kiss," he says.

Laurel instantly looks worried. "Look, I know it was sudden, and in a life or death situation. But I'd been wanting to do that for a while. I feel something when I'm around you that I haven't felt since-" she starts to explain, but is cut off when Bucky leans in and kisses her.

Laurel stands there, surprised for a moment. Then she throws her arms around him and kisses him back. For a few seconds, they remained locked in the embrace. When they separate, they are both beaming.

"I like you too, Laurel. And I want to see where this goes," Bucky says.

Laurel smiles and says, "I would be happy to do that." And she leans in and kisses him again.

Right as she does, Bucky's phone starts to ring. The two pull apart, and Bucky says, "Sorry." He looks down, sees its Quentin, and holds up a finger to say "one second" as he answers the phone with, "Hey, Quentin. What's up?"

"Well, I have a proposition for you now that Chase is gone. Come by City Hall in the next 30 minutes, please," Quentin says before hanging up.

Bucky looks at his phone in confusion for a moment before putting it away.

"What did he want?" Laurel asks.

"I don't know. But he wants me to come to City Hall. So, I better get over there," Bucky says.

"Yeah. And I'd probably ought to get to the DA's office," Laurel says.

"Huh?" Bucky asks.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. With Chase dead, I'm now the new DA," Laurel says proudly.

Bucky breaks out in a big smile. "That's amazing. You'll do great!" he says.

Laurel smiles again, then says, "Come on. We'll drive together." Bucky smiles and nods, and the two walk out, hand in hand.

* * *

(Thea's apartment)

Thea stands on the balcony, knowing he's coming. Sure enough, after just a minute, she hears a soft landing next to you.

"I knew you'd come," she says.

"I'm sure you did," Malcolm says.

Thea turns to him, looking at him sternly. "I am grateful for what you did. Being willing to sacrifice yourself for me. But that still doesn't change everything you've done. I am not going to forgive you so easily," she says firmly.

"Thea, I saved your life," Malcolm says defensively.

"I know. And that's why I'm letting you even be here. But you have a long way to go before you can even begin to have a hope of making up for what you've done," Thea says even more firmly.

Malcolm looks like he's about to protest more, but Thea holds up her hand. "Don't say anything. It doesn't matter to me right now anyways," she says.

"Why?" Malcolm asks.

"Roy and I are leaving town. We want to start afresh somewhere. Plus, Bucky needs someone outside the city trying to run down leads on HYDRA. That's what we're going to do. Maybe we'll see each other again, but right now, we still have no relationship. Now go," Thea says.

Malcolm looks at her for a few more moments before he turns and disappears. Thea walks back inside the apartment, where Roy is waiting with her bags.

"Ready to go?" he asks her.

Thea beams at him. "More than ready," she says as she walks over and kisses him.

* * *

(City Hall)

"Quentin, are you sure about this?" Bucky asks, actually feeling a little nervous.

"Of course. I need somebody, and you're the best person for the job," Quentin says confidently.

"But, I don't think I'm qualified," Bucky protests.

"Nonsense. You've got about the same level of qualifications Oliver did, and he was a great mayor until those aliens took him. Now, all those reporters are expecting me to make this announcement. Are you in or not?" Quentin asks.

Bucky stands there for a few moments, then sighs and nods. "Yeah," he says.

"Good. Then let's do this," Quentin says as he opens the doors and leads Bucky into the conference room, where multiple reporters are waiting.

Quentin steps up to the podium, motioning for everyone to quiet down. Once they've quieted down, he says, "Since I became mayor following the disappearance of our beloved mayor Oliver Queen, I have been somewhat short-handed here at City Hall. Despite all the good work me and my staff have done, one crucial person was missing. A good deputy mayor. Today, that spot has finally been filled. Ladies and gentleman, I would like to introduce the man who helped us in the manhunt for Adrian Chase, and my new deputy mayor, Mr. James Buchanan Barnes."

There is polite applause as Bucky acknowledges this, then he steps up to the podium. He clears his throat, then says, "I will admit, this is very nerve-wracking for me. I never thought my contribution would lead to this. But, in many ways I am glad it did. I love this city, and would do anything for it. And now, I am very honored to be able to serve alongside Mayor Lance to try and save this city."

There is more applause from the crowd, and Bucky smiles. After spending so much time living in a very dark and uncertain state, things are really starting to look up for Bucky Barnes.

* * *

 **And with that, this last chapter has come to an end.**

 **I really hope you like what I did here. And I hope you like me making Bucky deputy mayor. I thought that since Laurel was taking Chase's place as DA, why not make Bucky deputy mayor?**

 **Yes, the Bucky/Laurel romance has officially begun. I hope you guys like that I put them together. I'm hopeful that I can do great things with this pairing.**

 **Now, as for those of our friends who left us in this chapter. Vincent and Dinah will show up again, but not for some time. Roy and Thea's mission will play a big role in the Winter Soldier sequel involving HYDRA and Taskmaster, and Roy will show up even sooner than that. And Slade. I plan for Slade to show up a few more times in this series, so don't worry about him. Oh, and Malcolm. I know some of you may be disappointed he didn't die, but I have a use for him. I do plan on killing him off in the future, but not quite yet.**

 **I plan to go see Endgame tonight, and I am super excited for that. Once I've seen it, I'll get to work on devising the plot for the Infinity War story. I think you'll really like it. I'm really excited by what I've come up with so far.**

 **Well, with that, this chapter has come to an end.**

 **Or has it? Come on, you know me. I have to include an end credits scene.**

* * *

(North China Sea, 2046)

William stares ahead at the island up ahead. Finally, after fighting through that terrible storm, he's finally found Lian Yu.

William waits as the zodiac that the fisherman is using to bring him from the boat nears the shore. FInally, it hits the beach.

William leaps out, then turns to the man. "If you don't hear from me in a week, I'm not coming back," he says. Then he turns and walks straight towards the treeline. The fisherman shakes his head as he pushes his zodiac off the beach.

For hours, William combs through the trees, hoping to find what he's looking for. Or rather, who he's looking for.

Hours into his search, he comes across what look like small graves covered in rocks. Boards with names carved in them identify the people buried here. William kneels down next to one, picking it up and reading the name. Robert Queen.

William stares at the name for a few moment before setting it down. He can't afford to get distracted right now. He has to find him.

William resumes his searching, which lasts well into the night.

As he walks through a small clearing at around midnight, William curses his luck and whispers to himself, "Where are you hiding?"

Suddenly, with no warning, William is yanked up by his ankle. Caught completely off guard, William looks around in confusion until he sees a dark figure approaching him.

"You never should have come here," the figure says before William feels a fist connect with his face and everything goes dark.

Some time later, William wakes up next a campfire. Quickly sitting up, he sees his attacker standing across the fire from him.

"Who sent you?" he demands, his harsh tone not able to hide the age in his voice.

"Nobody. But you knew my father. A long time ago," William says.

"How am I supposed to know who your old man is?" the figure demands.

William responds by reaching into his backpack and pulling out a hozen. A hozen that had once belonged to his father.

"My father...is Oliver Queen," Williams states.

The figure stands there for a moment, then says, "So, you're Queen's boy?"

The figure then steps forward, revealing himself. His grey hair and gray beard, and slightly wrinkled face, show he's easily twice William's age. He's wearing a tattered black uniform of sorts, with a symbol that looks suspiciously like a bat on his chest.

William nods. "Yes, I am. And we need your help, Mr. Wayne," he says.

* * *

 **BOOOMM! I bet you weren't expecting that!**

 **I have finally done it. What the directors of the Arrowverse shows refuse to do. Bruce Wayne, the Batman himself, has arrived in the MACU.**

 **Now, obviously, this is Batman in the future, when he's at least in his 70s, if not 80s. And, he has taken Roy's place on Lian Yu in the future. The reasons for that will be explained later, as well as why William sought him out. Also, just for an image, I imagine Batman being portrayed by Joe Manganiello. Obviously, he's aged a bit here, so for the future, just imagine Joe Manganiello in his 70s or 80s. When he shows up the present, it'll be Manganiello as he is now.**

 **Now, let me be clear, as the author Stand with Ward and Queen has already asked me in regards to me using flashforwards. William has not sought out Batman because Star City crumbled and Oliver is gone. He has a very different reason. But, I promise, that Batman's future self will play a key role in the future of the MACU. And, I promise that Batman's younger self will be showing up soon. How soon, I'm not sure. But I promise he will.**

 **I was considering multiple different characters to take Roy's place on Lian Yu and as William's objective. I considered Moon Knight, Deathlok, Black Knight, Crystal, Wonder Woman, Beast Boy, and even Deadpool. I even thought of using Batman, but of a new person to take up the mantle. But, eventually, I decided on Bruce Wayne himself. I felt he best fit what I wanted to do with the character I chose to stick on Lian Yu in the future.**

 **Well, I hereby declare this story completed. I hope you liked it. Please review this chapter and give me your thoughts, and stay tuned for the start of the Infinity War story! It should come up within a week or two, and I will post notices in all my MACU stories to let you all know it's up.**

 **Until next time, this is Raptor2216 signing off.**


	26. Series Notice! Infinity War story posted

**Hey, everybody. I am posting this notice to let you all know that the fifth story of the "Worlds Collide series", the story covering Infinity War, has begun! It's under the name "Crisis on Earth-99". The first chapter is up, and more will soon follow. Go check it out, and keep following it. I am pretty excited for this story, and I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for your continued support!**

 **-Raptor2216**


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